Past Midnight
by cuito
Summary: “If you could wish for anything in the world what would you wish for?” “…I would wish for you…” [SasuSaku]
1. Home

**A/N: **NejiSaku, ItaSaku and SasuSaku will be mentioned more once the story gets moving. Although NejiSaku will not be focused as much as the other two coupling.

**Warnings:** Mentions of violence, sex and rape

Enjoy!

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How long had it been, seven or eight years since he'd been gone?

He couldn't recall, but he was certain it felt like an eternity. He was going on twenty-five, nothing compared to the age at the time when he left everything behind with his comrades, everything and everyone.

He briefly wondered if she changed from the person he left behind. A small, fragile girl whose once bright emerald eyes and cheeky smiles could almost make him purge out of disgust.

Yet, at the same time he found himself not being able to live without them, without her.

"LOOK, LOOK!"

A blur of sun kissed hair came into his view from the corner of his eyes, disturbing his peaceful daze from the blue and white smudges in the morning sky. His companion bounced up and down, finger steadily pointing to the view up ahead.

Powerful, rusty gates stood before them, welcoming home three ninjas that left many years before to defend and protect their beautiful village.

The man behind them sighed at the blond's eagerness, orange book slowly slipping into his pant's side pocket.

"No need to get overly excited, Naruto."

He patted the blond on the back, eye crinkling into a smile at the small frown he received. Naruto pouted childishly before running up ahead, away from his teammates, happily laughing at the thought about almost being home after being gone for so long.

"First thing I'm gonna do is go see Sakura-chan and then eat ramen!"

_Sakura._

A bitter thought ran through his mind, savagely breaking his peaceful thoughts about home, about her, about her very presence.

Dull, lifeless green eyes haunted him at night, gone were those piercing blood-red eyes of his brother's, comas that swirled dangerously upon him as a child and in his dreams.

She stopped smiling after the incident in the forest, silently blaming himself for letting his anger get the best of him. But hadn't he been doing that lately? Blaming himself for his parent's death for not being strong enough, for not having enough power to kill his older brother, for not being able to avenge his clan, and for hurting her when she only cared.

She had been unusually quiet, he noticed, the knit of her brows at times and the way her eyes flickered between interested in her surroundings and not caring. When the team went their separate way after coming back from a C-ranked mission, she didn't even bother to say goodbye or even ask him out on a date. She hurriedly went home not even looking back at her teammates.

He didn't see her until late that very afternoon when she quietly came up from behind him and watched him train. He chose to ignore her, like he did everyday, but something about the aura she was emitting was a bit unsettling.

He turned around to face her; his best glare and frown set in place, the one she knew very well when he wanted to be left alone to train no matter what.

Her eyes were staring at the green grass below; she fidgeted when she opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She tried again, mouth gaping open and then closing, she almost seemed like a gaping fish.

"What?" he spat, yet she didn't even budge from the spot where she stood.

"Could…could you help me with something Sasuke-kun?"

He gave her the cold shoulder and went back to training, sending powerful blows to the tree stump in front of him.

"No," he grunted.

Her head whipped up, eyes pleading with so many emotions. She wringed her small hands in front of her nervously, clasping and unclasping her delicate fingers.

"Please?" she choked, unconsciously wiping away tears that had yet to fall.

He faced her again, obviously annoyed that he was being disturbed from his training.

"I said no, Sakura. Go home. I want to be left alone."

The instance he felt her soft hands tugging on his arm his blood began to boil, especially when it seemed she was about to go off with the water-works. Sixteen and still crying like a baby, he scoffed at her.

"But-but, please? Sasuke-kun I-"

She didn't even get to finish her sentence, fear gripping her and making her forget the reason why she chose him out all the people she knew for help and advice. Rough hands painfully grasping her shoulders, shaking her out of her skin.

"Damn it, Sakura! Don't you understand the meaning of leave me the fuck alone?!"

She whimpered softly, lip quivering, eyes glazed with unshed tears. She nodded slowly. Hands leaving her shoulders she immediately rubbed them, wincing when she felt bruising starting to form and she stood rooted to the spot, almost frozen like a statue.

Sasuke turned around and began punching the tree with all his might, blow after blow of frustration and maybe guilt. He never yelled at her, even when she was at her best at annoying him, but today something inside of him just exploded. Patience was something he had difficulty at obtaining especially when she was around.

His movements slowed down and before he knew what he was doing he put his pride to the side and turned around to apologize, but an empty field greeted his apology instead.

He didn't' think twice about seeking her and actually apologizing, he just ignored the unpleasant feeling he had in my stomach and continued his training, she could wait until tomorrow morning.

Although the next day proved to be equally worse, his stomach twisting in ways he only felt during battle when adrenalin would kick in and save his sorry ass from being killed.

She was late for the morning meeting, unusually late because Kakashi had showed up before she did. When she finally did show up she was weary, dark circles staining the bottom of her dull green eyes, and she seemed paler than usual.

She quietly came into their view as they were leaving to train. Small hands bandaged, smooth skin burned by chemicals, dried blood smeared to the pink fingertips. She seemed distracted, somewhat depressed or in pain from her hands, he couldn't tell.

She walked past them heading towards the forest, although a warm hand on her shoulder brought her back from her reverie.

"Sakura, you're late."

She turned around and smiled a little, yet it seemed forced even if it was a small smile. Timidly she offered an apology to her teacher and once again began her way to the forest.

Kakashi watched his student with worry, confused that he couldn't make any sense of her strange behavior. She was usually a happy go lucky teenage girl, laughing and singing, always getting into trouble with Naruto for playing silly pranks around the village, but today she was different. If anything he was sure that Sasuke had something to do with her melancholy mood.

All three males trailed behind her, making sure she would be all right. The uncomfortable silence irked Sasuke to the bone; Sakura was usually the only person, with the help of Naruto of course, that would do most of the talking in the group. Since Sakura wasn't in the mood and seemingly it somehow affected Naruto the quiet atmosphere stretched amongst them.

Sasuke, himself not being a talker, but a listener, did love to listen to her speak. Voice so sweet and angelic, yet fiery and annoying when she wanted. And silence from her was in no means any good, since it affected the whole team, especially Sasuke.

So before thinking anything over in his head, his mouth seemed to have a mind of its own as it coldly blurted out the question that was plaguing all three of the males, "What happened to your hands?"

She stopped abruptly and turned around to face them. She brought her hands up to her chest and looked up towards the sky. A sad little smile edged her features, eyes not really focusing on the clouds just dull and lifeless, fingers grasping onto her red shirt.

"Oh…this," she dropped her hands to her sides, "Water and soap doesn't really clean blood stains from the floors and walls, I had to use something much stronger."

_Blood?!_

"Blood, Sakura-chan?" choked Naruto.

She nodded and began walking once again. All three males were shocked as they watched her disappear into the green vast.

A powerful punch to the gut was what he felt that day.

It had resulted that her parents were brutally killed in their home while she was away on the C-rank mission with her teammates the day before. Like the daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Haruno she had an awful feeling that a part of her was ripped away and knew that to whatever she was coming home to that day was not going to be pretty. And what was even worse was that she had sought help from her teammate only to be shunned away.

She had spent the whole night and early morning cleaning up their blood, scrubbing walls and floors until they become somewhat more presentable. Her hands had bleed with all the cleaning materials she used, porcelain hands bleached and burned, green nail polish cracked and dissolved with her parents blood.

It took two weeks for her hands to heal properly even with Tsunade's help, but an empty house did nothing but break her slowly.

"Sasuke," a soft voice said from behind, a gentle pat on his shoulder broke him away from his unpleasant thoughts.

"We're home."

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Perched against the wooden windowsill, the small figure sat motionless in the dark room staring intently at the bright morning sky. Lost in her thoughts she failed to notice the door opening slowly as a man walked in and frowned at her, watching her sulk in the corner of their stuffy little room.

A soft click from the door made her shift on her seat nervously. She had known him for a little more than a year, and yet she still became nervous in his very presence even after sharing some intimate nights together. She wasn't sure what made her hesitant, whether if it was of fear for her life or the fact the he resembled someone she held very close to her heart when she was a child.

Even if her back was facing him she didn't need to see him moving towards her, she could feel him. Each step was calculated, he knew the steps from the door to the window. He had walked them every single day for the past year since she started living with him. The closer he came the faster he bridged the small distance between them.

His warm hands slide around her waist, bringing her closer to his muscular body, engulfing her in a tight embrace. He gripped her body gently before loosening his grip and bringing his hands up to her pink curls.

She sighed against his inviting touch, gentle yet forceful at the same time.

"You should be resting," his husky voice echoed, causing delightful shivers running up and down her small body.

She hummed at his concern, large hands feverishly exploring her body, fiery mouth tasting her exposed skin making her unintentionally moan and lean into his touch, while her mind wandered elsewhere. Memories of her past flashed before her eyes, sad, happy, painful, and lonesome memories.

"_I…I'm sorry Sakura I…" he gripped his hair tightly, obscuring his dark, charcoal eyes. He tried his best to hold back his tears, eyes filled with so much raw emotions._

"_I didn't mean to hurt you, I swear…I didn't mean to, it was the seal. I would never hurt you like this…Sakura I'm so sorry..."_

_He couldn't hold back his tears any longer when he noticed her bruised back facing him, tangled in his bed sheets as she greedily wrapped herself trying to prevent any more humiliation. _

_He shakily held her close throughout the night and whispered constantly into her ear his regrets, his condolences, and his confessions about how much he cared about her._

_That night they both cried themselves to sleep._

Gripping her shoulders non-to gently he forced her up onto her feet and slammed her against the wall. Taking the opportunity of her parting lips as she gasped at his forcefulness he slipped his tongue into her mouth, savoring her sweet taste. She didn't respond to his rough kiss until she felt her bottom lip chewed upon.

_Too soon! I'm not ready for this…_

Grabbing him by his shirt she pushed him away slightly, gasping for air as she whispered what he knew all along she would say.

She said the same thing every morning. He would have to wait until night would come when she would loose herself to the dark and forget about her pain.

"No…it's too soon."

"Ah."

Slowly she turned around and sat against the window to once again stare at the morning sky.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

The three lone ninjas walked peacefully towards the Hokage's building. The feeling was pleasant, like a heavy burden was lifted off their shoulders. Now that everything was done, wars were finished, and peace was amongst the counties, they were able to return home.

_Home_, the word almost sounded awkward to Sasuke.

Years of brutal fighting and nonstop wars had eventually led them to become very homesick. Free moments, which were rare and very precious to them, were spent on re-reading letters from loved-ones and recalling all the fun times back at home.

From the corner of his eye, Sasuke spotted Naruto flirting with a random village girl who happily giggled and blushed prettily at him.

_Moron…_

He shook his head while Kakashi quietly chuckled beside him.

"It seems as though Naruto is a lady's man. If I were you Sasuke I would watch out, wouldn't want him taking your fan girls away."

"Shut up Kakashi," shoving his hand in his pockets he quickened his pace to the Hokage's building. He also tried to ignore the ongoing whispers from the villagers.

"Wow, is that the rest of team seven?"

"Yeah it looks like it, I was really hoping it would be _her_…"

"You're a married man and not to mention you're a merchant. Why would she want you, when she could get herself a great and respected ninja, like Hyuuga Neji?"

"Idiot! Don't you remember she broke up with him right after having the miscarriage?"

"Oh…that's right. It's shame she isn't here, Godaime-sama would have probably made her the next Hokage. And I bet she would be the best Hokage ever, she has some nice legs…"

_ Next Hokage?!_

The last part of the men's conversation certainly peeked the three ninja's interest. Upon hearing this, Naruto marched up to the men and grabbed both of them by their collars.

"Tell me who the fuck Baa-chan was going to make Hokage?!"

Both men startled by the blond's strength and glowing eyes became too scared to answer him. But before any kind of interrogation, mostly consisting of beating them to a bloody pulp, could commence a sympathetic Kakashi freed the men from the angry blond.

"Naruto please calm do—"

"NO! I will not calm down! I have been working super hard for the Hokage title for the past years and some unknown hussy comes in and…and practically takes my place!!"

"She didn't take your place, she was a backup just in case something might have happened to you while you were away…"

Three heads whipped towards the sultry voice and her trusty companion.

"Tsunade-no-baachan?"

"Come, we have lots to talk about, especially about your new mission I'm assigning you and Sasuke."

A distinctive groan was heard amongst the villagers passing by.

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**A/N:** Yes, yes, I know. I should be finishing the other stories, but I just can't help it.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. ::sobs::


	2. Burden

**A/N: **Thanks to all the awesome people who left reviews for this story! That totally made my day, thank you!

For those who are confused, don't worry because everything will be slowly revealed. There's going to be a lot of flashbacks so kinda be patient with me. There's going to be a lot of them, gotta love those flashbacks.

Enjoy the second chapter!

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Messy was the only word the three ninjas first thought of when they walked into the Hokage's office, that or disgustingly disturbing. Upon seeing their shocked expressions Shizune quickly apologized over and over again while Tsunade casually took her seat by the tall windows as if nothing was unusual.

Piles of paperwork were scattered across the office, empty cups of either sake or coffee laid by the mahogany desk, rings of coffee cups stained the floor and the large desk, and the smell of tobacco lingered in the air. Kakashi had no doubt in his mind that the leader of his village either had a party the day before in her office or she just decided not clean for a very long time.

Pinching his nose in disgust Naruto emphasized his dislike with childish faces, pouting, and rolling eyes. Many would have thought that he would have grown from his childlike behavior after seeing so many gruesome things in war, but apparently some people never change. Although coming back home had somehow felt like a big part of his life had come back together, home brought out the child inside of him, it had been too long since he could be carefree and immature.

With an eyebrow twitching, Tsunade felt her blood pressure skyrocketing and urge to kill rise upon seeing her future replacement as Hokage acting like a five year old.

_Immature idiot!_

She cleared her throat to get his attention and when she noticed he was still surveying the room she swiftly threw the nearest object she could grave, which was a stapler that hit him right between the eyes. Sasuke watched from the other side of the room satisfied and highly amused with the curses Naruto was expertly saying under his breath.

"I don't know about you, but I would like to get back down to business," she growled, "any objections?"

The teary eyed Naruto simply nodded, calloused hands doing their best to sooth the pain from his forehead, Sasuke and Kakashi merely shrugged from their positions in the corners of the room. With a frustrated huff Tsunade began the meeting.

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The sound of the child's sobbing echoed through the empty depts of the dark, lonely forest. Her small high pitched wailing and poor attempts at stopping the ongoing hiccups that bubbled from her bruised lips caused any creatures that were strolling by to pity the poor lost soul.

A scrapped little knee with blood that trickled and smeared down her small leg, a new dress torn and heavily wrinkled at different places, and a bright red ribbon that hung depressingly down a head full of pink hair.

Another day of getting beaten up and taunted by a group of older girls, being left in the forest and then slowly limping home to a worried mother who would scold her for not standing up for herself. At this point her eight-year-old mind just wanted to end everything, to crawl into a hole and die. It was certainly better than what she had to endure each single day from her bullies.

"Are you all right?"

Startled by the husky yet gentle voice she whipped her head towards the young man dressed in an ANBU uniform kneeling in front of her. She put her small hand on her chest to contain her pounding heart from escaping her ribcage, the boy before her had scared her from her grief with his sudden presence. His onyx eyes peered at her with much concern, but his face was void of any emotions. She nodded and brushed her eyes as hard she could to stop the falling tears, but to no avail.

Sakura tried to give him a reassuring smile to prove that she was alright so she could be left alone in her misery, but the boy simply sighed when he saw her tears continue to roll down her reddened cheeks with a big fake smile plastered on her face. He shook his head and thought of how much of a fool the little girl looked. She gave a surprised squeak when she felt the young man's arms around her suddenly, picking her up from the soft ground. Shyly peering at him she noticed he was giving her a stern look as if to challenge him to put her down, slowly Sakura settled in his grip since it seemed he wasn't going to let her go.

"_Are you all right?"_

He had asked her that same question many years later, fifteen years later to be exact.

Their second encounter was much more different from the first one, but there were still some factors that stayed the same. His voice was still husky, although it was much lower and rough just like a grown man, and the gentle tone of it was still to her surprise present. Who would have ever thought that Uchiha Itachi still had a soft spot even after murdering his clan in cold blood?

She was still on the ground, but a numbing feeling was slowly engulfing her body. Inch by inch Sakura felt her body slowly become cold and lifeless, she could no longer feel her legs. The constant ringing and buzzing in her ears drowned out all the sound around her and she was unable to hear the brooding man's conversation with his partner, but she was certain it had something to do with her. She could barely see his face, hidden away by the large cape that hung over his body and she could only make out the bright red clouds that blended so well with his black cloak.

She whimpered when he pulled her clothes over her body, covering her bare chest that was stained with crimson blood. Her body was covered in wounds that were seeping of blood and cuts that penetrated across her porcelain skin. She was thin and was bleeding profoundly, pink hair slowly becoming bright red, torn clothes soaked and sticking to her gaunt skin.

He brought his hand up to her face, carefully avoiding aggravating bruises or cuts he softly stroked her cheek and noticed that her once dark emerald eyes were now a pale washed out green.

She couldn't see him now that her vision was limited and she didn't want to see him, she even cringed at the idea of opening her eyes for him, but his touch was so warm and inviting unlike to cold hard floor she was laying on.

What you cannot see is not real?

So she kept her eyes shut hoping that the murderer in front of her would disappear. But when his touch lingered longer on her skin she prayed it was just her imagination playing a cruel joke on her.

"_Sakura."_

Startled, Sakura woke from her reverie when she felt the evening sun burn her face. Bringing her small hands to her face she massaged her temples to ease the oncoming migraine she would soon get. Rising from her current position by the window she shrugged the robe she was wearing, crumpling around her feet she stepped aside and carefully made her way to the small bathroom where she knew a warm bath awaited her. A fresh set of clean clothes hung on the towel rack and a neatly folded towel sat by the tub.

She never questioned his motives. She didn't need to. He was there when she needed someone. Whether it was a craving for physical contact or someone to just have and call as your own.

He was taking care of her and for the love of her life she did not know and could not understand why he would do such a thing. He could have just as easily killed her as easily as he could coax her into his bed at night.

_Tonight…_

Her traitorous thoughts trailed away from the bath in front of her to him. He would be here some time during the night. She could not get rid of the image that he so effortlessly imprinted into her mind. His heated body on top of hers, his mouth whispering her name, rough hands touching her where he knew she was aching.

"_You are mine…" _

He would growl the same thing into her ear each time he would make Sakura his own. Of course the little love bites he left behind were also a silent reminder of his territorial markings and a fact that had her eating up inside for the past year…

She had gone too far and she could not do anything about it without getting herself hurt or others hurt in the process. She had easily caved in when Itachi took her in.

But of course her imprisonment did not help either, it only caused her to welcome his embraces and fevered kisses with no conscious and no regrets. Locked away for months with no human contact, with no way of escaping slowly broke her mind. She had begged him for weeks to let her go, she cried and she did everything that was she capable of doing in her condition. But he would always pet her head and stroke her luscious pink hair as if she was a mere child until she fell asleep, crying sorrowfully in the arms of a man she was scared of.

Shaking her head from her unpleasant thoughts she dipped her foot into the water, contently sighing when the water seemed just perfect.

The warm water soothed her aching body and eased her troubled mind.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Wow…wow, wait a minute, what?!"

"You heard me," Tsunade calmly exhaled, "I want you two to retrieve Sakura."

Beautiful blond hair shining with the sun's afternoon glare, one pigtail hanging over her shoulder and cascading over her revealing bust, face set in a cold façade, but wise brown eyes weary and old.

She was feeling guilty, extremely guilty.

A perfectly laid out plan, every capable ninja involved that was available, the strongest and the smartest, the best of the best, most sent to their deaths. Those who survived the mission quickly retired from ninja duties due to severe injuries or trauma. Had it not been for Shizune and Jiraiya's help Tsunade was certain that she would have lost her mind the first time she found out that the pink haired young woman, the one she loved like a daughter, was amongst the missing bodies.

She would visit Sakura's grave everyday, empty of a body, yet filled with lost hope of ever seeing her prized pupil. The one girl she saw before her very own eyes grow into a fine young woman even with all the tragedy she endured, smart and strong in many ways. The one girl she cherished with all her heart, pride swelling as she called Sakura her own…

Her daughter.

And she had prayed every waking moment that Sakura would come home limping through the grand gates of the village grinning like an idiot, embracing her and cockily rubbing the sore wound in Tsunade's ego that she was very capable at being a strong leader amongst her comrades.

"_You worry too much, Tsunade-sensei, you'll get wrinkles. I'll be back…"_

Sakura had given Tsunade her best cheeky smile before she left, ignoring her pleas and worries as she made her way with her comrades to battle that was impossible yet possible of wining, but with many sacrifices.

"How…I mean, what happened?"

Brought back from her thoughts Tsunade focused her attention to Naruto who was shaking in his seat. Fear, anger, who knows what it was, but it was certainly making her guilt triple in size as his gaze turned cold.

"I take it the news of Orochimaru's death reached the battle fields were you three were stationed?"

_No, it can't be!_

Sasuke inched closer to Naruto, who had loudly jumped from his seat knocking over his chair and noisily slapping his palms down on Tsunade's desk.

"Was she involved?!" he growled each single word through gritted teeth.

Tsunade's somber gaze lingered on Naruto before she nodded slowly. Eyes widening he threw his hands to his face, rubbing it hard, trying his best to hold back his tears, then grabbed his gold hair in an attempt to keep his cool. Sasuke did not know what to say or what to think. Surely Sakura was smarter than that, to accept a mission that would lead her to her death.

Not unless she was craving to die, to follow her parents fate.

"She accepted the mission as lieutenant. I argued against it, but she wouldn't listen to me. She's just so stubborn like that…" she choked a tearful sad laugh.

"I declared her dead after six months of no trace. I—"

"WHY?!" Naruto shouted angrily, "Then why the fuck didn't you tell us about this?!"

Her hands were shaking eyes glistering with unshed tears. Shizune quickly went to her side, rubbing her back trying to ease Tsunade's pain and burdens.

Almost immediately after shouting at Tsunade did he feel guilty; Naruto had never seen her break down like that before not even in the face of death. She was a strong woman and Sakura's supposedly death had left her very vulnerable, all of her precious people were slowly getting killed in battle.

"I'm sorry," he muttered darkly, although his apology sounded more like a question.

Wiping her puffy eyes, Tsunade gave him a sad grin as she slowly reached into her drawer to retrieve a scroll where she carefully placed it in Naruto's hands.

"She was spotted several times this month at different villages up north, all the information in this scroll."

Sasuke and Naruto nodded and then quickly left the office without any goodbyes to find their last teammate. Tsunade watched sadly as the two men disappeared from her vision.

"Bring her home…"

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**A/N:** Yay another chapter, and a lot more flashbacks that will probably have everyone super confused.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. ::sobs::


	3. Sleep

**A/N:** I love you all and thank you so much for leaving me reviews! It means a lot to me. I am so happy that all of you are enjoying reading this story as much as I am enjoying writing it.

I am so happy that I have all of this, meaning the plot of course, written down. It's so much easier for me to keep updating frequently. If I keep this up I might be updating every week, much sooner with the help of a beta reader, but I don't like to bother people with my written stuff. Oh well…

Hope you enjoy the third chapter!

**_- _-_ - _- _-_ ****-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _- _-  
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Sure, they were hoping to be welcomed with open arms by their most prized member of their team. Smiling one of her most beautiful smiles, eyes happily dancing at the sight of them as they tiredly made their way through the rusty gates of the village. She certainly would have fussed over them like a mother, checking their faces for any new scars, examining them inch-by-inch until she would cheerfully declare they were ok as long as they would add some pounds to their thin frames. And she would have easily hidden away her awkwardness around Sasuke, mindful not alert her other companions of her dark past with Sasuke.

It wasn't meant to be.

Of course reality was always a slap in the face when you least expect it. Such a silly illusion to believe that she would patiently wait for them to come home from war, especially him. She had done enough waiting as it was and for a restless girl like herself to do more than her share of waiting it was almost pointless and a waste of her precious time. Sasuke would had felt better if she was merely going on about her life as normal, or at least as normal as she could make it. Heck, he would have felt much better if she was plainly ignoring him and her former teammates, locking herself away in the security of her home with maybe a suitor or a little family of her own.

She deserved so much more and he knew he could not offer her everything she deserved and everything he promised her. They were only sixteen, young and naïve children living in an adult world. Both were parentless, living in a dark house filled with painful old memories, and both needed comfort from other human beings. Although the little time they shared together shattered whatever they had that held them together. They slowly drifted apart, more so when Sasuke began to feel that familiar burning sting coming from his neck.

Gone. She had been gone for some time. Declared dead by her own teacher and caretaker. Laid forgotten amongst all of the other shinobi whose names were carefully carved into the memorial stone. He could easily picture it, as much as it disturbed and disgusted him, her name delicately carved on the memorial stone, beautiful spring flowers surrounding her grave all year round even in winter. And he could easily picture her bright emerald eyes closing for the last time, shuddery breath coming from the bottom of her lungs, as it would all escape into the high heavens.

Was he guilty? Yes, there no was no doubt about it. He could have been a more supportive friend for her. He could have gone out of his way to make her feel better, to make her smile just as brilliantly as she used to before her parents were murdered in their little home. He could have been much more if he had not let his pride get the best of him. Would it have killed him to apologize for being such an insensitive jerk, to let her cry on his shoulder to allow her to grieve her parents' death? No, but his pride and his habits had led him to believe she would be fine. Fine, before everything happened. Before he managed to screw everything up even more.

Night had quickly swallowed the morning sky, darkening its beautiful wonders and replacing clouds with dim stars creating a sad, eerie glow.

"Sasuke?"

Looking over his shoulder he noticed Naruto breathing as heavily as he was, hands supporting his weight on his knees as he eyed his brooding comrade for a break. Sasuke could feel his legs burning from nonstop running, lungs equally as painfully burning from the lack of air. His legs buckled beneath him, body aching for rest as he sat down on the soft earth while Naruto followed just as quickly.

"What does the scroll say?"

Tiredly pulling out the weathered scroll from his front pocket, Naruto held it up for Sasuke to grab. He opened it carefully; somehow feeling the scroll would fall apart in his hands with a mere tug and scanned the contents until he remembered every single word.

_Spotted several times in Rain Village?_

"Well?"

"Sakura disappeared right after Orochimaru's death, her body was never found. It says here," Sasuke pointed to the scroll, "that after six months of no successful trace she was declared dead…"

"Why would she disappear right after Orochimaru's death?"

"I'm not sure, but eight months after she was declared dead some of our shinobi spotted a young woman in her early twenties with pink hair in the Village of Rain."

"Do you think it could be Sakura?"

"I don't know, it cou—"

"Maybe she had a head injury and she can't remember us. Or maybe she's being held hostage or maybe…"

Naruto stopped his hopeful rambling with Sasuke's piercing gaze, one that he had not seen from him in ages. Raw pain flashed through his charcoal eyes quickly shattering his optimistic thoughts about finding Sakura. Alive.

"Lets just get some rest," Sasuke laid down turning his back away from Naruto's hurt look, "we still have tomorrow to search."

"Yeah, I guess you're right…"

**_- _-_ - _- _-_ ****-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _- _-_**

She shivered as she felt the night breeze cooling her room. The window wasn't very far away, but she refused to get out of bed and close it. It only depressed her even more. The window was her only means of escape away from her imprisonment and she hated feeling like a caged bird, oddly enough an image of Neji popped into her mind. As much as she tried to keep warm, wrapping herself with all the blankets in the room, she couldn't. She needed someone next to her; she needed body heat to warm her, she needed Itachi as much as she hated admitting it.

A loud knock startled her from her sleep. She frowned, certainly if it was Itachi at the door he wouldn't have knocked, he would have just walked in and laid under the covers with her.

"Yes?"

The door creaked open, a man about her age, face marred with scars, walked in and bowed slightly, "Uchiha-sama will not make it tonight nor tomorrow."

"When?"

"He didn't confirm, but he said a couple of days."

She peeked from under the covers, waved her hand to dismiss him, and flipped onto her side as the door closed with a soft click. Sleep was going to be hard to obtain tonight without her partner, but at least he was gone for the night. It left her to think peacefully without him constantly prying her for physical contact. The night was too calm, even if it was quite chilly; to have him torture her like he did every other night. She was free until he came back. No doubt he would be eager, in his own subtle and sick ways, to see her when he would return from whatever godforsaken thing he was doing, probably from brutally killing innocent children.

_He won't be back until…_

Something inside her mind clicked and she quickly threw the covers off her body, suppressing a shiver as her bare feet made contact with the cold wooden floor. She moved swiftly around the room, careful not to make too much noise to alert the guards outside her door.

_He won't be back. He won't be back._

Sakura chanted almost giddily at the thought of Itachi being gone for several days as she gathered her belongings and stuffed them in a small bag. She hastily put on her kimono, wrapped the obi around her and tightly tied it creating a simple bow behind her back.

_He won't be back!_

She was almost in tears as she made her way to the window; carefully swinging her legs over the ledge, hands tightly gripping the sides of the window she looked beyond and happily noticed none of the guards were out side. She steadied herself as she prepared to jump.

_Yes, he won't be back until a couple of days from now. He won't…he won't! He won't stop me this time…_

She jumped and ran through the forest away from the crumpling building.

**_- _-_ - _- _-_ ****-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _- _-_**

_Her hands were reaching up towards the dark sky, lost in her little world as she continued to point to each star. From the corner of his eyes he could see her trying to catch something that was very far away and unattainable, a shooting star._

_She smiled._

_Oh, how much he loved to see that little smile adorn her pretty face. It was not her usual big cheeky grin, nor was it one of her most brilliant smiles, it was small and beautiful and somehow he felt better knowing she could still smile even after all the grief._

"_Ne, Sasuke-kun?"_

"_What?"_

_She flipped onto her side, pink disheveled hair obscuring her bright emerald eyes. She reached up to smooth her hair out, but found a larger hand doing it for her. Her cheeks flamed; she could feel it and she willed her body not to show anymore of her silly emotions in front of Sasuke as he delicately placed pink strands of hair behind her ear. He gave her a questioning stare when she took a deep breath._

"_If you could wish for anything in the world what would you wish for?"_

_He stared at her, confused by such a question, one that he had not heard since he was a child. The look he was giving her immediately made her feel like she had grown two heads, she certainly regretted asking him now._

"Sas…"

"_What kind of question is that?" he scoffed at her._

"…suke…"

"_Never mind…" _

_He didn't miss the hurt look in her eyes as she went back to gazing the stars._

"…Sasuke, wake up..."

A hard shove roused him from his dreams, robbing him away from one of his most precious memories he had of her, even if it was quite sad.

"Come on, we still have a couple of hours before reaching the next village."

"Aa."

Sasuke stretched his tired muscles, cracking a few bones in the process.

**_- _-_ - _- _-_ ****-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _- _-_**

**A/N:** Kinda short, but still good. Next chapter will definitely be long. Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura will finally meet. Yay!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.


	4. No more

**A/N:** Three or four more chapters before I finish this little baby. Yep, I thought about making this one super long, but I just don't have the patience to sit in front of the computer and type away.

Anyways, enjoy the fourth chapter!

**- _-_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -**

_A steady flow of warm blood trickled from her abdomen, trialing down her leg and onto the ground, staining her elegant white kimono. The long katana, shining so brilliantly in the afternoon sky, embedded itself into soft flesh, pining the petite figure against the surface of a willow tree. _

"_Sakura," warm breath tickled her ear. With a quick motion of his nimble hands, the katana was pulled swiftly and effortlessly out of Sakura's frame. She bit back a fit of coughs soon regretting the bitter taste of metallic in her mouth. _

"_Y-you bastard!" she roared at the tall figure before her who seemed slightly taken back by screech. _

_She intrigued him to no end. There was no doubt about it, this young, naïve woman satisfied his every need and every desire. Isn't that why he chose to let her live, to not let her escape so easily from the boundaries of his little kingdom? He mused, if he remembered well it had been several days ago that she had so shamelessly thrown herself upon his feet without any doubts._

_Itachi was rudely interrupted from his thoughts when Sakura spit in his face, a mixture of saliva and blood splattering all over his emotionless face. His eyes hardened slightly at her outburst and as soon as she began to pull away he slapped her hard across the face, sending a hot stinging pain to her reddened cheek. Sakura hit the ground, groaning in pain as she felt her fresh wound tear when it touched the ground non-too gently. Glistering tears began to pool in her dull eyes, threatening to fall and show her weakness to the man who proudly stood over her, silently watching her._

_She held back. She wasn't going to cry, she promised herself many years ago she wouldn't cry. Not now, not later, never. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her break, of silently admitting defeat. No, she wouldn't do it, even if he killed her painfully slow or locked her away…again._

_Sakura yelped in pain as a hand roughly pulled her to her feet by the hair, slamming her against the tree. The sickening sound of bone cracking made it to her ears._

"_Sakura, Sakura…" his playful tone hid away the irritation of her attempted escape and uncooperative behavior._

_Rough fingers traced glistering tears down to swollen lips, where his thumb softly smeared crimson blood over the puffy bottom lip._

"_Don't forget that you are mine."_

_She was about to deny it when a hard pull of her hair shut her up as quickly as the katana had. He leaned closer, his warm breath ghosting over her neck sending a fearful shiver down her spine._

"_You. Are. Mine," he growled each word haughtily as he nipped her earlobe affectionately, "if I can't have you, no one will…"_

_His grip loosened its hold on her long tangled hair, his hand slowly snaked its way to her swollen cheek where he wiped away the pouring tears._

"_Mine," he gently said before devouring her swollen lips._

Sakura bolted upright from her deep sleep, that same nightmare haunting her once again. She gently placed a quivering hand over her beating heart that was trying to pound its way out of her chest as she wistfully wished the dream were only a horrible nightmare. She would have felt better if it was only a figment of her imagination, something that couldn't hurt her, but alas it was a memory of her very first escape. Itachi had been very serious when he claimed Sakura as his _'property'_; she had no choice but to comply.

If Itachi found out she was missing there was going to be hell to pay, she pondered sadly as she rubbed the scar across her stomach. She hated being the obedient little girl while secretly wanting to break the rules, although breaking the rules this time was different than from breaking the rules when she was twelve. Back then she would have gotten a slap on the wrist from Kakashi for being disobedient, now she would get a good hard slap to the face when she spoke out of line and there was also the forcefulness at night…

Not that it could be called being forceful since she never complained nor never asked him to stop. He was very careful and gentle with her when she wasn't trashing around trying to kill him or his Akastuki buddies. And he always did seem worried about her, even if it appeared likewise. Aside from being a mass murderer and overprotective creep, he was somewhat sweet in his own eerie ways.

_No!_

Being so close to him was slowly warping her mind, she shuddered; she really needed a break from him. She couldn't go on like this it was too dangerous.

The morning light filtered through the cracks of the blinds, illuminating the dark, musty motel room. The ticking of the clock caught Sakura's attention, but the constant soft tick slowly lulled her back to sleep as well the warm covers wrapped around her body like a cocoon. And before she closed eyes she noticed the dark numbers. She groaned.

_11:45!…Five more minutes………_

**- _-_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -**

The morning trip was spent in silence. Neither one wanting to disturb the already uncomfortable quietness that settled between them since late last night. Sasuke's pessimistic thoughts about finding Sakura alive brought Naruto down to a new low, even lower than the time when he found Sasuke making out with his childhood crush by the training grounds. Of course Sasuke was oblivious to this fact because if he had known Naruto was spying on him at that moment he would have not made it to see his twenty-fifth birthday.

_But he certainly looked happy with her…or at least as happy as an Ice cube can get…_

He remembered hearing a soft giggle coming from behind the bushes. Unusual? Yes, but living in Konoha was a bit of a surprise. But the giggle continued softly and Naruto had to strain his ears to listen to hush whispers that tagged along. He noticed it wasn't just any ordinary giggle it was soft and heavenly. It was Sakura-chan's giggle. He was ecstatic. It had been months since he heard her indulge in anything else besides crying or being mute. He was about to burst in and call for her, but a familiar male voice froze his body from moving any further.

"_Sakura…"_

Lo and behold was a sight to be seen, one he knew that would never happen again if he were caught red handed. If Naruto wasn't so surprised and a bit disturbed he would have commented on how cute they looked or how hell had frozen over to the couple wrapped in the comfort of each other's arms.

Sasuke and Sakura lying on the training grounds K. I. S. S. I. N. G. First comes love then comes marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage.

By then Naruto was hoping he'd get to be the godfather of their child, or children for that matter since Sasuke would want to restore his clan sooner or later, and it did seem Sasuke and Sakura were well acquainted with each other.

Sasuke had his arms wrapped around Sakura's petite frame; one hand gently rubbing her back soothingly while the other hand stroked her luscious locks. She was too busy poking him lovingly in the face, pinching his cheeks, and playing with dark strands of his hair that obscured his eyes to notice Naruto's presence.

Now, nobody would have guessed that Sasuke was being slightly human with his female teammate. If Naruto had been crazy enough to tell everyone in the village about his discovery it would have ended up in laughs (and a bloody death), because Uchiha Sasuke was never human.

He found it odd that the emotion he felt wasn't jealously, but disappointment. All three of them were close like a family, weren't they? How come he wasn't included in their life? It was the least they could have done. He was after all a part of them, right?

Naruto sighed sadly earning a quick stare from his gloomy friend. So many years had passed since he last saw a smiling Sakura and he hoped it wouldn't be the last.

"I'm hungry…"

"Aren't you always?"

The quick sarcastic reply from Sasuke somehow lightened his mood slightly. A little smile tugged on his lips and before he knew it he was grinning like an idiot.

"Naruto?"

"I call dibs on choosing lunch," the grin never left his face as he watched Sasuke's face scrunch up in confusion.

"Wha-"

"RAMEN!"

It took Sasuke a moment to realize that Naruto had yet again won at picking lunch for both of them. If he weren't so lost in his thoughts he would have stopped Naruto from saying ramen out loud or even mouthing anything similar to the word ramen. He was getting sick of eating that stuff. Sasuke was certain he would die before he would achieve his goal of avenging his clan from eating so much ramen.

_Here lies Uchiha Sasuke._

_Loved by all._

_Death by ramen._

"Come on Sasuke-bastard!"

He shook his head at Naruto's childish side of his personality, smiling slightly and silently thanking God for having some things in his life stay the same and not ever change even with time.

As soon as the pair walked into the town they immediately received questioning stares. It was hard not to stare at the two young handsome men geared up in war gear, katanas tied to their backs, dried blood stains covering most of their clothing. It was obvious the town didn't have any ninjas.

The town was nothing special. It was small, very remote, and occupied by simple people who lived their lives as farmers or artists. There were the occasional tourists walking around pointing at the old buildings, awing at the village's art and culture. None of it really interested Sasuke since his mind kept fluttering back to Sakura.

As soon as Sasuke saw the little glaze in Naruto's eyes, something between giddiness and mischief kind of look, he knew right away that he would soon be towered over by bowls of ramen or very angry chefs.

The little ramen shop was somewhat crowded and both Naruto and Sasuke had to sit on two small stools that creaked heavily with movement, they were sandwiched between a cluster full of customers shouting their orders to the chef and waitress or yakking to their neighbors. Sasuke had insisted they go somewhere else since he couldn't stand people invading his personal space, but Naruto coolly ignored him and happily hummed away as he received death glares.

Two steaming bowls were set before them and Naruto almost jumped with joy at finally being able to have his favorite food after so many years. His stash of ramen he had taken to war, which was plenty to live off of for several months before he would have to restock, was burnt to ashes when Sasuke _'accidentally'_ practiced his fire techniques near Naruto's tent. Naruto mourned over his beloved ramen as Sasuke simply stood next to him, trying his best to keep the evil smile from splitting his face in half. With that memory in mind and before digging into his meal Naruto swiftly punched Sasuke hard on the arm earning a small grunt of pain.

"What the hell!"

"Oops, sorry man. I guess I'm just really excited," his innocent little smile hid the proud smirk that threatened to appear.

"Whatever," grunted Sasuke while secretly planning his next move.

Slowly the customers began to disappear from the ramen shop leaving both men and a couple of others to enjoy the rest of their meal peacefully. Out of the corner of his eyes Sasuke noticed the chef staring at him and Naruto rather curiously.

"Where you two from?"

Naruto looked up and smiled at the old man who was busy cutting vegetables. The waitress next to him looked longingly at Naruto for his response.

"We're from Konoha."

"Whoa," the young girl gasped as the chef smiled at her reaction, "is it pretty over there?"

"Yep! One of the most prettiest places to live, although your town isn't that bad…"

The girl turned to the chef, "Ne jiichan, wasn't that pretty lady from this morning from Konoha as well?"

"I believe she is…"

Nothing could have prepared the old man and his young granddaughter from a barrage of questions by the heated blond.

"What lady! Did she have pink hair! Green eyes! Did she—" Naruto patted his jacket, went through all the pockets before pulling out a worn out photograph of Sakura in her early teens.

"—look like her?"

The young girl numbly nodded, somewhat surprised to see the young blond man tear up at her response. Sasuke slightly surprised at their early discovery, and quite happy as well, was also a bit disturbed by Naruto's hormonal reaction. God, it was like he was dealing with a woman. Maybe all the sexy jutsus he used over the years had somehow alternated the chemicals in his body. Naruto was just so open about his feelings, he shuddered; he really needed a break from him or else he'd lose his mind.

"About what time did she come?"

"Around noon," there was a small pause before the old man continued, "she said something about going to Sand."

"Aa, thank you. Come on Naruto."

Naruto quickly followed behind Sasuke, but turned back to the ramen shop to slap a handful of bills on the counter not really caring if he received his change or not.

They were so close, even closer than he had ever imagined, he could feel it in his bones. There was no way, no humanly possible way that they could have ever found any leads to Sakura's disappearance after only one day, it wasn't possible. Investigating a missing person usually took months, even years for that matter, especially since her disappearance happened during war. But they did and it was somewhat nerve wrecking to think that she could still be alive after all these months of being declared dead. Although something in the back of Sasuke's mind told him it could be a trap to lure them in, to capture and posses the power of the sharingan or the nine tails. It was a well-known fact that Haruno Sakura was a valued member in team seven and each of her teammates would do anything, go any length to save her no matter the cost.

Sasuke just hoped it wasn't any kind of trap. Luring him by using the image of someone precious to him was a big mistake and if it were that case then that particular stupid person or people would cease to exist.

His sharingan had long been activated without him realizing. He pumped chakra into his legs, making his speed double in rapidness. He could feel Naruto do the same beside him, his demon chakra leaking out, lashing all over the green foliage.

Tonight was going to be a long night.

**- _-_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -**

It was nightfall before they found a fresh track of small footprints on the soft earth and it was until early morning, before the sun rose, that they found a petite body of a young woman hunched over a tree stump, curled under a small blanket sleeping peacefully. The little snores she emitted somehow made Sasuke relax; feeling thankful that she was all right, that is if it was Sakura.

Naruto and Sasuke both stood a safe distance away from her, making sure it wasn't a trap, they nodded to each other. Sasuke made sure she wasn't an illusion and Naruto made sure there weren't any traps around.

It was safe. There were no traps, no illusions, nothing, there was only a young woman sleeping peacefully under the sky, silky pink locks strewn across her back and onto the grass.

Sasuke was the first one to recover from his shock; he took small steps towards Sakura. She was alive, breathing, and making small snoring noises, he could almost cry out in joy. The last twenty-four hours had been hell for him. He had not felt so depressed in his entire life, nor ever felt like he could no longer breath. Not even the massacre of his clan could compare to the dread he felt of the possibilities of finding her body somewhere mangled, beaten or rotting. No, he couldn't, and he would never be able to continue his life if he wasn't able to see her again alive and well. Granted their last encounter wasn't very pleasant, but he never meant to hurt her. He cared too much for her to intentionally screw their relationship by doing something so dirty, so gruesome to her.

But somewhere in his mind he kept making excuses. He didn't want the woman to be Sakura. He didn't want to see her emerald eyes, eyes that held so many emotions be dull and lifeless like before. It could just be another woman who came from Konoha who dyed her hair pink, whispered a little scared voice in his mind. It was possible, it was. But the closer he got the more it was hard to deny it was Sakura.

Sasuke kneeled beside her and gently shook her, trying to wake her as soothingly as he could. She stirred, groaning at the pressure on her shoulder, eyes groggily opening and blinking away the sleep. It was still dark, the sun had yet to rise, but with all the darkness surrounding her she noticed a pair of blood red eyes peering at her, comas swirling dangerously. She felt her chest tightened, squeezing her lungs, making it harder for her to breath. Surely Itachi wouldn't have found her so easily, she covered her tracks well from the disgusting building she called home for the last year and the guard did say he wouldn't be back until a couple of days. The pressure on her shoulder slowly tightened and she immediately slapped the hand away.

"GET YOUR FILTHY UCHIHA HAND OFF ME!"

She was beyond hysteria. Only one day away from her cage, her prison, and he was already on her trail, hunting her. It was a sick joke. God must really hate her.

Sasuke was a bit hurt, but he didn't complain since she had every right to hate him now. He had caused her too much pain, had done so many horrible things to her that were unforgivable.

She crawled away until her back hit the roughness of a tree, trembling terribly as she stared at Sasuke in horror. Her breathing now shallow had somehow alerted Naruto that something wasn't right. She was scared beyond reason as if she was going to get hurt.

"Sasuke, you idiot! Turn your sharingan off!" he walked slowly to Sakura, "Sakura-chan?"

He carefully held his hand out before softly calling her again, "Sakura-chan? Babe its okay, everything is fine…we're here for you…"

She blinked away the tears that pooled in her frightened eyes and noticed a warm hand on her cheek trying to calm her.

"Na-aruto?"

"Shhh…" he gingerly lifted her onto his lap and hugged her close to his body as her sobs erupted. She held tightly onto him, never wanting to let go, she was finally safe. No more Itachi, no more abuses, no more caged like a bird.

**- _-_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -_ -**

**A/N:** I had this cute picture of Sasuke and Sakura I drew over the weekend that I was going to post for this story, but I didn't finish it. I still have to ink it and maybe, just maybe I'll color it on Photoshop. If I happen to finish it by the next time I update this story I'll put a link on the new chapter so you can see it.

Sorry if there are any mistakes for this chapter. I just started writing early, I didn't stop until I finished it and posted it up before going to bed. At least the length of the chapter makes up for the stupid mistakes I made while typing.

I wanted to continue writing, but I am tired as hell. And really want to save the rest for the other chapters.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.


	5. Pain

**Warning: **Flashback contains violence and some details of rape. Do not read if you can't stomach it. (I don't support rape, just to clear it up. I don't want to get angry e-mails or anything of that sort.)

**- _- _- _-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _-_ - **

_Warm._

She was warm, heat radiating from behind her spreading all over her shivering frame. It felt nice, arms tightly wrapped around her protectively, her back crushed against a hard chest that moved steadily with each passing breath. Naruto mumbled in his sleep, warm whispers blowing across her scalp tinkling and soothing her skin. Sakura looked around and noticed Sasuke resting against a tree not far away. His face was scrunched up, brow twitching; his breathing was a little unsteady as if he was having a nightmare. She shrugged it off, but a little part of her couldn't' help but feel bitterness towards him.

_I hope you dream more than my share of nightmares in your lifetime, bastard…_

Moving carefully, Sakura untangled Naruto's arms from around her and grimaced when it appeared he was about to wake, quietly she yanked her bag from the ground and stuffed it in his arms for him to hug. It seemed to work because as soon as the bag was in his arms he stopped protesting in his sleep from the lack of her presence.

The morning was quite chilly, her hot breath coming out as vapor in the cool air. She wondered how long she had been asleep in Naruto's arms, her sore back aching at the odd angle she'd been hugged. Sakura rubbed her frozen digits to get the blood flowing, then proceeded to find something to eat while Naruto and Sasuke slept.

**- _- _- _-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _-_ -**

_Somehow the familiar burning sting coming from his neck never felt so much better._

"_Sasu—" _

_He crushed his lips onto hers, hungrily drowning her pleadings of stopping. He was too busy enjoying the sound of her clothes ripping to listen to her cries. Slowly, his hand would reach up to roughly cup her breast just to see her choke on her cry before ripping off the remainder offending clothing roughly with an amused grin. She was down to her undergarments when he noticed she was still pleading with him to let her go. There was nothing she could say or do to stop him, because tonight he would brand her as his no matter what, whether she liked it or not, although a little part of him insisted he make her like it._

"_Sasuke-kun! What are you doing?" _

_Frightened as she was it somehow made him more aroused just to see her struggle beneath him, tears already adorning her pretty face, breath unsteady and labored at trying to overpower her captor who held her tightly in place._

"_Please Sasuke-kun, don't do this! I'm not ready!"_

_He frowned when it seemed she wouldn't stop squirming out of his grip as if he were the plague, but it didn't matter because within seconds he had already penetrated her swiftly causing a cry of pain to erupt from below then immediately cease her struggles. He didn't hear much from her throughout the whole ordeal, even when he picked up speed, movements becoming jerkier to just to try to make her beg, or even when he released himself within her shivering frame, nothing._

_He pulled away, realizing he had been holding too tightly onto her wrists and noticed purple bruises scattered across her petite body. He smiled; proud of the work he accomplished on the pink haired beauty, but not as proud as the dark purple bruises standing out against her chest and neck's milk white complexion._

_He didn't get time to enjoy the moment because of a soft hand quickly shooting up and grabbing his neck, pumping burning chakra into his system, clashing against the tingle that felt so right. His first reaction was to hit her across the face and when she hit the wall, followed by a loud thump did he realize she was crying._

_He looked down horrified to be greeted with bloodstains on his white bed sheets, Sakura's clothes torn beyond repair and her body naked and beaten._

"_S-sakura?"_

_She choked on her cry, her face still pressed on the cool surface of the wall. Her body ached everywhere, pain burning between her legs as she tried to lie down on the mattress, feeling disgusted with the sticky substance trailing down her inner thighs._

"_I…I'm sorry Sakura I…" he gripped his hair tightly, obscuring his dark, charcoal eyes. _

"_I didn't mean to hurt you, I swear…I didn't mean to, it was the seal. I would never hurt you like this…Sakura I'm so sorry..."_

_He couldn't hold his tears any longer when he noticed her bruised back facing him, tangled in his bed sheets as she greedily wrapped herself trying to prevent any more humiliation. _

_I'm so sorry…_

Sasuke woke from his nightmare sensing something wasn't right. The air seemed a bit lonelier than this morning when they found Sakura. She was so frightened when she saw him, scared beyond her wits, but at least she was safe now and almost on her way home. He should be happy that she was alive, but a little part of him wanted to cry for her sudden reaction at seeing him.

He looked over to Naruto to check on her, to make sure she wasn't hurting, although in reality he wanted to make sure she wasn't having the same nightmare he had. It was the same dream every night, her pleading voice as he took her innocence, her blood on his bed sheets, the feeling of emptying inside of her without any struggles, it haunted him every night for the past eight years, her pain, the pain he caused her.

_Sakura!_

The place where Sakura had fallen asleep within Naruto's arms was being occupied by her dark blue bag. Trusting his voice a little this time he called out for her, but was greeted by silence and Naruto's sleepy murmurs. His heart began to hammer against his chest, guilt washing all over him once again. He should have been awake to keep watch, but he was so exhausted from the trip and now he was paying the price again. She was gone.

"Sakura!"

Naruto immediately woke from his deep sleep when he heard Sakura's name being screamed worriedly. He roughly rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, thankful to know that he wasn't wearing any hand protectors or else he would have poked his eyes out with the metal guard. He glanced at Sasuke who was hurriedly putting on his gear, tying his katana hastily on his back.

"Sasuke, where's Sakura-chan?"

He turned to glare accusingly at the clueless blond who didn't seem one bit worried about Sakura, "How the fuck should I know!"

"What the hell is your problem!" Naruto spat back, obviously upset by Sasuke's sudden hostility.

Sasuke rushed towards Naruto grabbed him by the shoulders and was tempted to gauge his innocent sky blue eyes out of his thick skull with a blunt kunai, but instead he shook him like a rag doll. Naruto let Sasuke take his anger out on him thinking it would do him some good to release his frustration. He had noticed earlier in the morning how Sasuke nervously fidgeted around Sakura especially when she was screaming at him; he could only conclude that Sakura was affecting him to act violently, something must have happened between them.

"I'm gone for ten minutes and you two are already at each other's throat."

Sasuke immediately stopped shaking Naruto to whip his head towards the indifferent voice that trailed smoothly across the air. There she was, standing proudly in her black and pink kimono, pink silky hair tied in an elegant bun although a few rebellious strands of hair hugged the sides of her face. She was breathtaking.

"Sakura-chan! You've come to save me from this monster!" Naruto happily cheered at her.

She shook her head, clearly not amused at his yelling at such an ungodly hour. He must have driven everyone at their camp crazy with his rowdy voice. She walked towards the pair, quite aware of Sasuke's burning gaze on her and Naruto constant _'Sakura-chan'_s. She walked right past Naruto and Sasuke, picked her bag from the ground and leaned against a tree while neatly straightening her kimono.

"Sakura-chan?"

Not stopping her task at fixing her clothes she simply replied coolly, "Are you ready to leave?"

"Yeah…just let me get my things," he was taken back by her nonchalant behavior, he assumed she would have been a nervous wreck after what happened, but she seemed too calm, too composed as if she was masking away her inner turmoil.

A façade.

They were walking at a slow pace back home, mindful to let Sakura rest every hour since they weren't sure what she had gone through. She stood a safe distance away from them throughout the day, even when stopping to eat or rest. She never looked at them directly in the eyes, frightened that they would discover her deep secret and she always made sure she was covered; _"skin is to be kept hidden underneath layers of clothing in front of other men," _Itachi once said. The talks were kept to a minimal, Naruto always leading the conversations, trying his best to lighten the mood, but failing miserably each time.

"Are we there yet?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "No."

"How about now?"

"No," grunted Sasuke, "We'll be there in about two or three hours at this pace."

Naruto wistfully sighed, glanced at Sakura and then at a frowning Sasuke, "Are we there yet?"

Sasuke muttered darkly under his breath and Sakura giggled quietly behind her hand, glancing at her Naruto noticed she went back to her calm self, her smile leaving her face as quickly as the giggle came. They stopped to eat dinner after many complaints from a whining Naruto; he realized that was the only way to get any reaction from Sakura, to act like he was twelve again. Sasuke seemed to notice as well so when Naruto kept his bantering he simply played along.

Naruto scampered off to the river for fish leaving Sakura and Sasuke behind. Alone. She stayed quiet as she watched him work to start a fire and each time he turned to look at her longingly she would quickly turn her head to look to the side shamefully.

_Her eyes are different…_

He felt obligated to somehow apologize not really knowing what for, although his mind insisted it was because he was feeling guilty for leaving her behind after deeply hurting her, and he would have done so if it weren't for Naruto's sudden entrance. They sat around the warmth of the fire not really knowing what to say, Naruto kept mulling over things to say in his head to the quiet group, but each thought kept falling back to Sakura and her odd disappearance. It was irking him that she was being so secretive.

The fish sizzled against the flames of the fire, sweet smell invading the groups' senses as it was made much clearer how hungry they were as their stomach grumbled impatiently. Naruto handed Sakura a cooked fish, the top part of her sleeve crawled up her wrist as she reached across for her food. Horrified, Naruto was greeted with scares on her once smooth and delicate hands. Sakura noticed his uncomfortable stare and immediately dropped her fish to pull at her sleeve to cover her heavy scarred flesh.

"Sakura-chan? What happened to your—"

"Nothing!" she interrupted.

"But—"

"It's non of your goddamn business," she hissed fiercely as to emphasis her point.

Sasuke watched from afar, confused at what was happening, but not entirely surprised. There was no doubt in his mind that she was probably a prisoner of war, her actions all spoke of aftershock at being tortured. They way she kept her gaze away from them, her unsteadiness at their close proximity, wanting to be kept hidden underneath clothes, she was scared.

Sakura meanwhile tugged on the sleeves of her kimono, wanting nothing more than to hide from them. Naruto was too nosy and she hated it when he kept asking her questions for answers that were meant to be kept locked inside the dark depths of her mind. And having Sasuke around wasn't helping either, he kept looking at her and it was infuriating because he looked so much like his damn brother with his emotionless face.

No matter what she would not break down, especially not in front of Sasuke or Naruto. No, she was too old to cry. She wasn't a child anymore.

"_How do you like it Sakura-san?"_

_The dagger pierced through her skin, claiming her hands onto the surface of the cold floor. She screamed, the pain rattled from her hands up her arms as the white haired man grabbed another knife to cut her flesh neatly across her bare chest. It hurt to move, but she felt so glad at finally putting the snake to his grave even when the last of his followers was cutting her open. _

"_You didn't answer my question," he brought his hand up to his face as his forefinger pushed the glasses up higher on the bridge of his nose. _

_She struggled to answer, but she managed to wheeze a cold respond to a smiling Kabuto, "Go. To. Hell."_

"_Oh, my. Didn't know you had such a naughty mouth Sakura-san, too bad I'll have to cut it off it's rather beautiful just like your eyes…"_

_She closed her eyes tightly waiting for the blow to come, her heart pounded violently against her chest working twice as hard to keep her living and make more blood to replace the one that was quickly seeping out of her fresh cut wounds. Sakura heard a loud thump beside her, followed by man's deep husky voice._

"_Are you all right?"_

_She whimpered when the stranger pulled her clothes over her bare chest carefully, inspecting her wounds he noticed her eyes were slowly creaking open._

_He frowned. Swiftly, he carefully pulled the dagger from her hands that kept her pinned to the floor and quickly picked her up not bothering to answer his companion's questions about the beaten girl as blood soaked through his clothes. _

"Sakura?"

Blinking out her reverie, Sakura noticed Naruto and Sasuke staring at her worryingly. She turned around, gathered her belongings and quietly stood up. The other two followed in suit without any questions, Sasuke putting the fire out and Naruto gathering his belongings. They hadn't even spent ten minutes resting and they were already walking off the hunger and exhaustion.

Not long after their last stop were they able to see the village ahead and its grand gates greeting them.

**- _- _- _-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _-_ -**

**A/N:** One or two more chapters before this baby is put to sleep. Next chapter Sakura will confront Tsunade and Neji. Dun, dun, dun! (cracks evilly)

Thanks so much to all the kind people who have been reviewing this story. I love y'all!


	6. Child of Mine

**A/N: **Maybe this will help clear some things up for you **Inu+Kago** and whoever else is confused.

Sasuke's issue: the kid is drowning in his own guilt and wants to get rid of it, but is too much of a wimp to actually face his problems head on. The forest incident is the beginning of Sasuke and Sakura's relationship or downfall, whichever one you like. That's when the guilt first begins, after shunning her away when the next day he realizes she needed his help. The rape incident happens later, much later, thus causing him to run away from his problems thinking it would rid him of his guilt, oh but what a fool he was…

I think I went off topic, sorry.

To answer your question: when Sakura remembers the night she spent with Sasuke (in the earlier chapters) it's actually the rape incident, and Sasuke is remembering the night in the forest.

Yes, yes, I've been wanting to clear up the miscarriage deal and Sakura's break up with Neji. (cracks evilly)

But was it Neji's or Sasuke's baby? You'll have to find out…

Enjoy!

**- _- _- _-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _-_ -**

The little girl inside of her wanted to run ahead and fly through the opened gates of the village just like she used to when she had loving parents waiting for her return after long missions with team seven. A fleeting swelling of sadness crept upon her momentarily as she thought of her late parents and whose mysterious deaths were never solved even as the years passed. But at the moment she wanted nothing more than to welcome everything, every detail to her senses, from the way the orange glow swallowed the heavenly sky to the soft green earth painted by wild living colors and to the way the air was warm yet cool at the same time. It had been too long and she suddenly realized how much she missed home.

Behind her Naruto and Sasuke walked silently, and she could feel his stare upon her. Somehow longing and desperate in a way she could not comprehend and she silently hoped he was only feeling needy or possessive because Sakura wasn't sure she could handle a somewhat emotional Sasuke. She didn't need him to start any more trouble; she already had problems of her own.

The guard up ahead looked a bit startled with their arrival, mouth hanging slightly open with wide surprised eyes, she couldn't remember where she'd seen him before, but she was certain his chakra was familiar from somewhere.

"Lieutenant?" he squeaked.

She stopped, quite aware that his voice held that of bewilderment and an astonishment tone, and then remembered that the young man was once one of her late pupils who became a medic. He wasn't much, his skills and talents were average like most of the other people she had taken in, but he was so sweet and tender to the patients and his gentleness had somehow captivated her. He reminded Sakura of her younger self before the self-loathing and loneliness took over. She was glad he made it out alive from the war with Orochimaru; he was too precious to die.

She nodded and began her stride inside the village followed closely behind by what seemed like two lost little puppies. The call through the radio to the Hokage tower did not go unnoticed by Sakura.

The news of Sakura's arrival was a bit of a shock for everyone in the village, especially for the poor young man who hurriedly made his way to the Hokage's office too see the pink-haired woman. His mind swam with so many thoughts of her haunting image as he shoved people roughly out of his path not really caring if he looked more like an asshole, he could care less about his image or what others thought of him. He was almost certain with the uneasy feeling in his chest that threatened to burst out that the object of his affection was way beyond saving.

Last time he had been lucky.

Even though they never spoke prior to her teammates' departure, he always admired from afar how well she kept herself together in times of sorrow and her never-ending determination never failed to amaze him. She was sweet and quiet most of the time and she had a bad habit of hiding behind a fake happy and fiery façade to conceal her shy self and loneliness. He never questioned her about it; it wasn't any of his business what she hid from the world, but he did try his best to push her out of her shell.

They quickly became very close. More so when they shared quiet nights together after long days of hard training, watching the night sky shimmering with thousands of golden stars had always calmed Sakura and eased her troubled mind. His heart always sped crazily when she would shyly smile at him, eyes glittering with delight and happiness, as a delicate hand rubbed the little swell of her growing belly.

"_I think it's a boy," she chirped cheerfully as she rubbed her aching tummy. Her companion beside her examined the little bulge sticking oddly out of her petite body before spreading his calloused fingers around her revealing flesh. _

_She looked so good, even when being pregnant. She, Haruno Sakura, was the only girl he knew that could sport pregnancy as sexy. As the days passed her clothes started to fit her more snugly and Neji found it rather hard not to stare as the buttons of her blouses came undone from the top and bottom from time to time._

"_I think it's a girl," he smirked as she childishly stuck her tongue out at him, blushing wildly and soon regretting her innocent gesture as his mouth was upon her devouring her hungrily. _

"_Ne-eeji!" she slapped him playfully on the shoulder as she gasped for air earning a deep, rich chuckle from the serious young man._

"_Really, Neji, you can be so childish sometimes."_

"_It doesn't matter because you seem to like me that way," he spoke smugly as he saw her cheeks tinting a bright scarlet red._

"_Jerk," she muttered embarrassingly._

She had refused him and his offer of marriage. Arguing that she would ruin his life and career because of the ongoing cruel whispers and gossip that spread around the village like wild fire. He remembered telling her he didn't give a shit after kissing her tenderly. He was going to marry her whether or not he had to drag her down the aisle and she nervously laughed because he was very calm and serious. He deeply cared for her and her unborn child and that fact would not change no matter what people said. When she still refused his offer he made a scene in front of everyone in the middle of the street that had her burning up red in embarrassment and he didn't stop until she agreed to marry him.

"_Sakura, please…"_

"_No, I won't marry you and that's final," her stubbornness irked him. Here he was spilling his feelings and offering her a better life for her and the unborn child and she flat out refused him. No one rejects a Hyuuga, especially Hyuuga Neji. _

_He dropped to one knee and held her hand tenderly against his lips as he watched her confused emerald eyes widening. He hollered as if he were in pain gaining everyone's attention in the crowded street, "My dear Sakura blossom, how much I cherish thee!" _

_The couple earned questioning stares and a decent crowd as the villagers came close to investigate all the commotion that was occurring._

"_You would make me the happiest man in the world if you would accept to be my youthful, beautiful bride and I, your loyal, youthful husband," he grinned wickedly at her when she realized that he was posing like Rock Lee. Her face flamed as she heard the quiet chuckles and giggles from the people watching them._

_She tried to pull her hand away only resulting in a slight firm tug from her hollering boyfriend, which caused her to fall easily into his expecting arms. He picked her up and rubbed his cheek against hers, "We are in our time of flaming youth and it should not go to waste because of fear of becoming one in mind, body, and soul!"_

_The laughter was becoming quite unbearable for Sakura as she struggled in Neji's tight hold, "Be my bride and I promise I will grant you all the happiness in the world for being mine. Our children, all fifteen of them will be playing happily in a beautiful home fit only for a queen. Their innocent little minds full of determination will roam the village and—"_

"_FINE!" she yelled, "I'll marry you…"_

_She whimpered when the clapping roared as her prince in shining armor kissed her sweetly on the lips._

Of course not every story ends in a happy ending. After her miscarriage she became distant and eerily quiet. There was nothing he could do or say that would change her mood. She had cancelled the wedding, tearing each and every invitation with her own bare hands until she was drowning in piles of ripped paper. He found her on some occasions in the Uchiha property, crying her sorrows away on the weed-infested gardens.

"_Sakura, how are you feeling?" he approached her slowly. Her red-rimmed eyes revealed the pain of losing her first child that would never be able to experience the meaning of living._

"_I guess you were right after all, it was a girl…" she smiled bitterly._

Neji loudly burst through the office doors, head moving around frantically searching for pink hair and when his silver eyes finally rested on the petite woman he felt his heart break.

"Sakura," she didn't acknowledge Neji when he called her name, she was too busy trying to come up with a believable lie that would fool the occupants in the office, yet she knew right away the idea would not work. She did not need them interrogating her. She already had enough of people forcing information out of her, of forcing her in general. All she wanted was to be left alone and at peace.

"Neji, close the door."

He nodded, closed the door quietly, then made his way to the empty seat next to Kakashi, who was busily staring at the ground somberly. Sasuke and Naruto were on opposite sides of the room, both facing Sakura. Tsunade was watching Sakura carefully from her desk; quite aware of her image, she was thin and tired. She sighed; she had hoped their reunion would have been a better one with laughs and tears of joy not of frowns and somber atmospheres.

Sakura kept her gaze to the opened balcony door, trying to ignore the confused and questioning looks she received from all of them. When it seemed she would not speak, Tsunade rubbed her aching temples and walked around her desk to stand in front of Sakura.

"Sakura, where have you been for the past year?"

She made no move as she kept her gaze away from Tsunade, "On vacation."

Naruto scowled, "Vacation! On vacation! What kind of vacation makes your hands disfigured!"

"Naruto!" Sasuke spat warningly.

"The kind that has you _dying_ to stay longer," she hissed back.

"Sakura, I won't repeat myself," Tsunade calmly said before demanding the answer that was plaguing everyone, "Where have you been?"

She shrank back into her seat feeling like a little child caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. She mumbled something under her breath while still refusing to make eye contact with Tsunade.

"Pardon?"

"I said, it's non of your business," she replied bitterly.

Over a year of feeling guilty and drowning her sorrows away with alcohol thinking she was responsible for Sakura's death and all she received as an answer was, _'it's non of your business'_. She felt betrayed and cheated, she had mourned for her, days, weeks, and months and all she had to say was _'Vacation,'_ and _'it's non of your business'_. No, she was hiding something big from her and she would not let her go until she spilled the beans.

"It is my business," Tsunade scoffed.

Sakura clenched her covered hands, "It is not!"

"IT IS! I've been worried sick about you. I had every available ninja search for you after the incident and…and," Tsunade was at loss of words, "JUST ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION!"

"YOU'RE NOT MY MOTHER," Sakura screeched back almost childishly.

Her head whipped the side, cheek burning with a stinging sensation as she brought her scarred hand to briefly touch the tender flesh. Tsunade was breathing hard, eyes pooling rivers of tears, "No, I'm not your Mother…"

The dull tone to Tsunade's words made her cringe inside, almost regretful for taking out her frustration on the woman she adored as an aunt. But she had every right to be upset, it seemed everyone was accusing her of a crime that had yet to be confessed and proven.

"Please, Sakura. I beg of you, please tell me…" she touched Sakura's cheek and grabbed her chin, softly pulling her face up to meet her begging brown eyes.

Tsunade wasn't expecting what she saw clearly written on her pupil's face. Torn, beaten look, her eyes…her eyes flashing with raw pain as haunting as she had ever seen her. Pale, pale eyes that didn't even focus anymore…

She dropped her hand from Sakura's chin and staggered back a few steps before bumping into her desk, "You-you're…"

"I'm blind," she whispered shamefully.

**- _- _- _-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _-_ -**

**A/N:** Ok, so I did say I was going to end this in two chapters, but it seems it might be a little more. It just refuses to end and it's driving me a bit mad. This chapter is a little short, but I'm quite happy how it turned out.

Alas we have Neji in the story and once again the flashbacks attacked.

And Sakura's secret is revealed...or is it really revealed? (Mwuahahahaha!)


	7. Kiss

**(3-31-05) I put more on this chapter. I wasn't quite satisfied when I reread it this morning so I changed it a bit. Enjoy the new and revised version!**

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**A/N:Confused? This chapter should clear it up. I must really like to confuse people…

InuKago thank you so much for your super duper review. It made my day. Same goes for Itonami and animEvivvErz. As for Sakura's little problem it's cleared up in this chapter. I had planed this out a long time a go, even before I started writing this story, so it's kinda weird and super confusing how I ended the previous chapter. (bonks head for doing so, pobre tonta) And as for recognizing Naruto and Sasuke, Sakura was able to guess by their chakra and voices.

I'd like to dedicate this little chapter to you, InuKago. I assure you this chapter will contain SasuSaku goodness! Lots and lots of SasuSaku goodness! Yay!

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"How?" Tsunade pressed seriously.

Sakura swallowed hard, she could feel the blood in her body freeze and her hands quiver at revealing her shame. She did not want them to know that her weakness had led her to her current predicament and poor state. She cursed her venerability, her scars, her life, and the cruelty the world seemed to bestow upon her. She was weak. That's why she was slowly and painfully going blind. It was the same reason as to why she lost her baby girl.

She was weak.

Yet at the same time she found herself torn between grieving at losing her child and thankful she didn't have to carry the burden any longer. Had things turned out differently in the beginning she wouldn't have had to be ashamed for being pregnant at such a young age and the nasty rumors would have been replaced by words of praise. She wouldn't have had to hide behind Neji but instead stand proudly beside Sasuke.

She smiled bitterly and muttered rather darkly, "I'm not sure…I can't remember much. It will be a matter of months, even weeks before I go completely blind…I can only see outlines of shapes and colors, but its too blurry, although there're certain colors I can see _very clearly_…"

"Then there's still a possibility her eyesight can be recovered with an operation, right?" Neji spoke, his worried voice echoed in the quietness of the office.

Sakura shook her head slightly, brow furrowing as she spoke somberly, "I would have been able to heal it myself if it wasn't such a mess. My optic nerves are deteriorating slowly each day, there isn't much Tsunade-sensei can do to save my eyesight without actually having to perform an eye transplant on me, and I don't want that."

Tsunade sighed, "All right, I think that's enough for today. We'll talk about everything else tomorrow. You must be tired Sakura," she eyed Neji knowingly.

Neji stood from his chair hastily, quickly making his way towards Sakura as she gazed at everything but the occupants in the room. He grabbed her arm gently, lifting her from the seat as she continued to gaze outside the opened window. Sasuke watched angrily from afar as Neji carefully and tenderly held her.

"Come on, Sakura. I'll take you the Hyuuga compound."

Sakura yanked her arm away from Neji's gentle grasp, "No," she shook her head, "No. I will not go with you…"

"But—" the words died in his mouth as she turned around, ignored him and walked out of the office leaving behind his heart to shatter into millions of pieces as he watched her walk out of his life.

He clenched his fists in anger and frustration silently blaming himself for her pain. If only he had been with her during the battle with Orochimaru then she would have not gone missing. She wouldn't be suffering like this.

She wouldn't. And it was his entire fault.

**- _- _- _-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _-_ -**

The night had come quickly, twinkling stars illuminating the dark sky as they surrounded the moon up in the high heavens. It was a bit cooler than the afternoon, unusually cool for the kind of weather Konoha usually had during the summer. Sasuke kept his pace slow as he walked amongst the crowd in the livelier part of town ignoring all the squeals and flirtatious comments the young women made as he passed. He walked until he found himself in the empty streets of his clan's home.

Sasuke walked silently in the empty streets of the Uchiha estate, the houses all dark and lonely radiated of haunted families who had yet to rest in peace. His brother still roamed the earth, his rage burning more brightly within him as he imagined Itachi living peacefully while he was left to suffer for his crimes. But if he kept thinking this way then there wasn't any probable chance that he'd get to live a happy life, demons and nightmares free. After all, it's not like his older brother actually cared what he did with his life nor did he even bother to check on his progress for power and the bull crap Itachi had fed him as a youth was only a sick way he amused himself.

So deep in his thoughts, Sasuke didn't notice he had taken a detour in his path that had ended in bringing him to the graveyard.

He squinted his eyes and noticed a petite body amongst the graves, hands reaching out and touching the tombstones desperately. The long pink hair, tangled in a thick braid behind a small back, gave it away as to whom was roaming the graves and Sasuke felt his heart tugging uncomfortably in his chest. He walked quietly towards her, stopping only when she turned around to look at him with her dull pale eyes. Her hand was still resting on the tombstone and he immediately realized she was searching for her parent's grave.

"Do you need help?"

She nodded slowly, hair falling around her face obscuring her pale eyes from his sight. He grabbed her hand gently and pulled her along the graves until he spotted what she desired; dropping to the ground she followed his lead as his hand grazed her parent's tombstone along with her trembling hand. She fingered every engraving on the cold stone, almost desperately wanting to memorize each and every single letter.

"I'm back, Kaachan, Touchan…" she whispered into the night and felt Sasuke's arm wrap around her trembling form, his grip tightened in a gentle way and Sakura found herself too tired to push him away.

Her hand searched for more, grasping onto the little tombstone that stood sadly next her parent's. The name was clearly carved elegantly on the middle with large letters, beautifully as she had remembered. Sasuke, confused as to why she was touching an undated grave as if it was her life, watched silently as glistering tears rolled down her reddened cheeks. When he couldn't stand the uncomfortable swell in his chest any longer of seeing her so upset he gently lifted her up to her feet and hugged her closely to his body as she cried her sorrows.

Sakura wrapped her arms around him awkwardly, grasping him tightly to her shaking form as she fought a losing battle with her emotions. Sasuke rubbed her back softly, laid his chin on her head and closed his eyes as her crying engulfed his hearing. When her crying subsided he led her away from the graves with a reassuring grip as she sniffled and hiccupped her tears away. He held her hand tightly, fingers interlocking, as they walked slowly to his house in silence, she being too tired and sad let him take her away.

His wooden floor creaked with their heavy footsteps, hollow hallways seeming more haunting than he'd remembered. They walked towards his room, surprised at seeing it somewhat clean and devoid of dust. He motioned her to sit on the bed while he rushed to the bathroom to turn the water on for a warm bath. When Sasuke returned back to his room he found Sakura hunched over and crying.

"Sakura," he whispered.

She was shaking and mumbling incoherently under her breath as she cried. Sasuke kneeled in front of her and grasped her face tenderly, stroking her cheeks and wiping the tears away from her eyes. His tenderness startled her and she swore she wouldn't fall for it.

"I…I hate you," her chest heaved, "I hate you, you know that right?"

His eyes softened as he whispered quietly against her lips, "Yeah…I know…"

His mouth descended upon her lips as he kissed her softly, Sakura whimpered and pulled away quickly from Sasuke who stood rooted to his spot slightly hurt by her rejection. He sighed, buried his face into her exposed neck before tugging her towards the bathroom. He sat her at the edge of the tub as he helped her undo the obi of her kimono.

Her small-scarred hands stopped his larger calloused ones when he tried to take the kimono off from her shoulders, she bit her lip as she waited for him to get the idea that she didn't need his help. His hands rested stubbornly on her shoulders, hers trembling in fear as he slowly slid his hands inside the kimono feeling her warmth beneath his fingers.

"D-don't," she whimpered painfully, "I…I don't want you to see m-me…"

He ignored her plea, silencing her with a soft, breathless kiss while he continued to remove her clothing slowly. The kimono pooled around her feet on the floor, exposing her in all her naked glory in front of him. His eyes roamed her body, head to toe, absorbing all the soft flesh that lingered with ugly, healed wounds. Large scars adorned her chest and abdominal, some going as low to her hips. He felt her back and found only one solid scar running from between her shoulder blades to the middle of her back.

She cried again, her body trembling in shame, more so when he paid no heed to the scars that marred her body as he gently lifted her up, carefully setting her in the warm water. He washed her body and long luscious hair soothingly, large hands scrubbing her scalp softly while he talked about his time on the battlefield with Kakashi and Naruto. After the long, warm bath he dried her tenderly with the largest towel he found in his house, her hair taking more time to dry because of its length.

She didn't complain.

Sasuke somehow liked the feeling of being needed and having someone to take care of. He hoped Sakura would let him take care of her from now on.

With one of his oversized shirt resting on her small figure he brought her to his bed where he gently laid her to rest. His arm snaked possessively around her, bringing her closer to his body as he whispered soothing words into her ear to calm her fears.

She fell asleep before hearing the words _'I love you'_ coming from his lips.

**- _- _- _-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _-_ -**

_She almost choked on the water she was drinking._

_The predatory look she was receiving from Sasuke, who sat across from her, was a bit unsettling and might she dare to say a little exciting. She was brought back from her questioning thoughts with one of Kakashi's pats to the head. He commented on something about the unfinished food on her plate and she zoned him out as soon as Naruto started to yell._

_His gaze was still burning her and she wasn't sure if he was either glaring at her for doing something wrong or just glaring at her because he felt like it. She thought back to their training, trying to recollect anything she might have done or said to upset him._

_Nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada. She couldn't come up with anything that might have caused him to be upset. Unless he wasn't upset at all… _

_Sakura looked up and blushed wildly as he stared at her while he ate his meal suggestively. The little smirk he gave her did not go unnoticed by Kakashi who gave a shake to his wild silver mane._

"_Ehh!" Naruto pointed to her neck, "Sakura-chan when did you get that bruise? I don't remember any of us hitting you there!"_

_His finger pointed to the obvious love bite left behind on her milk white complexion, "It-it's just a mosquito bi-bite. You should have seen the size of that thing!"_

_Naruto being the poor gullible fool he was when it came to Sakura believed her little lie and thought nothing more of it except that the mosquito must have been really big. Kakashi on the other hand peered at Sasuke from his behind his book to give him a deadly glare._

_She laughed nervously hitching her collar up a little higher and she was certain she heard Sasuke cover up his laughter by coughing._

Sakura woke to a hard chest planted against her back, a warm hand underneath the oversized shirt resting innocently on her lower abdominal. His fingers twitched as they stroked her softly and Sakura had to keep herself from jumping out of bed at the sudden closeness. Sasuke's slow and even breathing grazing her scalp had begun to stir bottled up feelings within her body, as she lay awake in bed. The sensation of having him near coiled warmth within her tummy before it spread down lower.

She moved slightly in his embrace causing him to murmur her name sleepily and move around until he was in a more comfortable position with his strong arms crushing her to his chest. Her heart hammered wildly in her chest and she moved again to get away from the unbearable heat that was radiating from his body to her body.

"Sakura?"

She hummed, biting her lower lip as she tried to cool off with the wall's ice-cold surface. Sasuke reached out, grabbed her thin arm and pulled her clumsily from the edge of the bed, forcing her back into his warm arms. She gave a slight groan of frustration that was muffled against his chest as she struggled in his grasp, desperately wanting to be out of his embrace before doing something she knew she'd regret in the morning.

His hand traced lazy circles on her lower back causing delightful shivers to run up and down her spine. She tried to move again, but Sasuke tightened his hold on her not quite wanting her out of his arms just yet. She cursed under her breath, raised her arms up and wrapped them around Sasuke's neck before jerking his face down to crush her plump lips to his.

A slight moment of shock was all Sasuke needed and he wasn't quite sure if he was still sleeping, although a sudden squeeze from Sakura was enough to shake him awake completely. He managed to react lively, deepening the kiss as his hands roamed her small body feverishly while her hands grabbed and tugged his hair playfully. He rolled her onto her back, nipping and kissing everything that was exposed to his hungry mouth, but hard to do more by the offending clothing she wore. She leaned into him; half moaning, half praising that his hands were so gentle as he gave her pleasure she thought she'd never receive from him. Although in the back of her mind she knew he had been wanting her as much as she had been wanting him since their encounter after so many years.

A fleeting thought about how positively different he was from his brother flashed through her mind, and she would have thought more of it if it weren't for the distracting swirls of his tongue on her skin.

A quick desperate tug had the oversized shirt off her body and on the floor along with his pants that quickly followed. The bareness of their heated bodies alerted Sakura and she was beginning to have second thoughts, "Sa-Sasuke?"

He buried his face in her chest whispering quietly against her heated flesh, "I promise I won't hurt you…I promise," he lifted himself up to kiss her deeply, "I won't run away…"

She gave in.

**- _- _- _-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _-_ - _-_ -**

**A/N:** animEvivvErz I love you! I just had to get it off my chest. (giggle)

Thanks to all the awesome people who have been reviewing.

* * *

**InuKago: Soy Latina. Me crié en Jalisco y viví allí por ocho años. **


	8. Wish

**A/N: **Sorry for not updating sooner, I have been extremely busy with school. Its been a while since I last updated. Sorry for the wait guys. **Anyways, I would like to tell everyone that the previous chapter was revised and I advise you to reread it.** There are a couple of hints that should be read if you're still beating your head trying to figure out who's the father and whatnot.

This chapter contains more SasuSaku love! I just couldn't help it; I needed to write it.

Enjoy!

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_The dazzling little smile that played on her lips was mesmerizing. Brilliant emerald eyes danced with so much happiness at just the mere touch of his warm hand as fingers interlocked clumsily. Ruby, plump lips puckered out childishly as she waited for her goodnight kiss and the little giggle that followed was enough to drive him over the edge as he crushed his mouth desperately onto hers. She pulled back immediately almost laughing at his irritated expression of wanting more and tip toed to peck him tenderly on the cheek._

_Sasuke stopped glaring at Sakura and gave her a lopsided grin that had her giving him another quick peck to his other naked cheek. She pulled back again when she felt his arms secretly trying to wrap around her waist, and she quickly slapped his eager hand away that was also trying to pinch her. _

"_Goodnight," Sakura whispered as she leaned against the door. Sasuke merely watched her, drinking in her form as she nervously stood. She knew what he was thinking; his intense gaze said it all. He walked closer, planted his arms on the surface of the door, hands on either sides of her head, effectively trapping her in his little cage. He dipped his head to capture her soft lips._

_Planting her small hands on his chest she pushed him away gently as she squeaked, "Mou, Sasuke-kun! It's already past midnight and I need my sleep. We have training tomorrow and Kakashi-sen—"_

_He silenced her with a soft, breathless kiss, "We won't be late, I promise."_

"_That's what you said last time and Kakashi-sensei had us running extra laps around town!" she huffed._

_He chuckled softly as he nuzzled her neck making her shiver in pleasure, "Mosquito bite, huh?"_

"_Sh-shut-up!" she pulled his hair as his chuckles engulfed his body once again. His hand traveled to the doorknob, twisting it and frowning slightly when he found it unlocked, he gently pushed it open while still having Sakura trapped within his arms._

"_Sasuke-kun," her face flamed a cherry red, "you're not being fair!"_

"_How so?" he quirked a brow at her._

"_You…you're," he inhaled her scent, nuzzling her neck with his nose, "…you're cheating," she whined as she felt opened mouth kisses burning her flesh._

"_I thought you would have learned that by now," he smirked at her._

_She made a slight noise between an annoyed and happy grunt in the back of her throat and with a defeated sigh she wrapped her arms around his neck bringing his face closer to hers._

"_This better be quick," she pouted at his smug expression, "or else…"_

"_Or else, what?" he pressed arrogantly._

_She nibbled his earlobe, warm breath brushing against his slightly heated skin, "Or else I might have to tell your fan-girls about your weird little fetish…"_

_He bit down on her shoulder initiating a fevered gasp, "Try me, Pinky." _

_She giggled._

The rising sun peaked through the cracks of the blinds, lighting the dark, cold room. The constant chirps from the birds outside that were perched on the tree next to the window of his room were enough to wake Sasuke up from his pleasant dream of Sakura. A small smile lit his features just thinking about her and the smile grew even bigger remembering the way she writhed beneath him in pleasure the night before. It had been too long since he was able to enjoy her company and he was glad that some of the guilt was slowly fading away with just her soft touch.

Sasuke rolled over as his hand reached out and searched for the warmth of her body on the bed. He frowned when his hand did not come into any contact with her and he immediately shot out of bed only to be disappointed by the empty spot next to him.

"Sakura…"

- - - - - - - - - -

The bright morning sun was painfully burning her irises even as she had her eyelids covering her delicate eyes. She sighed and slowly brought her hand up to her face to shield the sun's hot rays from burning her. She was still feeling a little uneasy by the whole string of events that occurred yesterday, yet the voice in her head whispered somberly that she was only feeling guilty for leaving Sasuke behind before he even had the chance to wake up.

She shook her head as if mentally removing the little voice that insisted she go back to his house and slip under the covers next to him as if nothing ever happened. But that was out of the question since nothing could ever be the same like it used to be and she could no longer pretend as well as she used to like when she was still a child.

She sighed again and plopped down on the grass letting her body rest against the soft earth. She let her arms fall down across her face mindful about letting her fragile eyes rest behind the shadows of her sleeves. The peaceful surroundings engulfed her into a sort of comfort zone letting her troubled mind to ease and slowly drift into sleep.

The soft steps coming towards her did not go unnoticed.

- - - - - - - - - -

Sasuke spent a good hour searching for her throughout the village. He searched all of the spots they shared together, her favorite places, and even the graveyard where her parents were resting peacefully, but he had yet to find her. It was irritating him to no end that he had let himself to believe that she would have forgiven him even after all the crap he put her through. He was hoping and wishing he'd wake up next to her in the morning just like they used to when they were younger, but alas some things will never be the same, even with an apology.

He felt his heart crack into many pieces, the sound of breaking echoing in his mind as he picked up speed towards the forest, it was the last place he had yet to check for any signs of her and for some reason he had a feeling she might be there probably regretting about last night.

Ten minutes later and deep within the forest he found her sprawled on the ground sleeping peacefully with her arms over her face. He walked closer, each step taken cautiously as he tried his best to be silent so as not to wake her from her peaceful slumber.

"What do you want?" her quiet voice cut through him as he came closer. He halted, embarrassed that he thought she was fast asleep and that his mind kept torturing him with images of her. She moved her head to the side bringing her arms off her face and resting them on her abdomen as she held Sasuke's gaze.

"I was worried," he wet his lips feeling a sudden dryness come across his face. She scoffed at his answer and turned her body away from him, resting on her side as her back faced him. He laid next her and turned to his side so that her back was against his chest and wrapped his arms around her, feeling her stiffen at the sudden contact, and slowly, very slowly pulled her closer to his body as he nuzzled her hair with his face.

"Sakura," he whispered into her hair, suddenly feeling afraid that if he said anything else besides her name she would disappear, "Sakura…"

"Why can't you leave me be?" her question cold and unforgiving held a desperate tone to it. She was afraid, afraid like the little lost girl that she was inside. She did not want to be hurt again; she had enough of hurting for a lifetime. And she did not want to experience the pain again of any more of his cowardly departures…she did not think she could handle anymore of his departures.

She did not want him near and she did not need him, Sakura reasoned with herself, over and over again until it seemed a headache would soon crash through her troubled mind. Yet the little desperate voice kept whimpering to her to just forget about the past and live for the future. His arms were trembling around her small frame as he held her close and the way he whispered her name was begging her to go back home with him. The little voice inside her head also begged along with his quiet, desperate whispers.

He carefully shifted his body over her, holding her hands above her head as he clumsily intertwined his fingers with hers in a complex web. He moved closer, trying to catch her soft lips but held back when she leaned deeper into the ground trying to avoid his warm breath on her face.

"Do…do you remember the night when you asked me about," he took a shaky breath, "about wishing for anything I ever wanted in life…any wish I could make in the whole world?"

"_If you could wish for anything in the world what would you wish for?"_

"Stop it," her eyes snapped open to glare up at him.

He continued, ignoring her deadly glare, "…That if I could wish for anything in the world what would it be, remember?" he whispered painfully in her ear.

"I said stop it, Sasuke!" she trashed wildly against his hold, twisting and jerking away from him but to no avail, his grip was not loosening and the more she moved around the more he tightened his grip around her desperately.

"I never did give you an answer…I," he swallowed hard, "…I would wish—"

She interrupted him, "I DON'T CARE! I DON'T CARE!" He narrowed his eyes when she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"I…don't…" Sakura whimpered, trembling beneath him as she felt wet trails of tears run down her cheeks, "…care…"

Sasuke squeezed her hands softly in reassurance as she cried silently. He watched as the glistering tears slowly made their way down her face leaving behind red stained trails. He leaned forward until their foreheads touched and kissed her softly. She responded heartily, forgetting about her problems when he began tracing her jaw with a cluster of butterfly kisses, his hands left their tight grip around her to move expertly across her body.

She immediately leaned into his touch, almost sighing in relief as he quickly undid her obi, letting his hands gently push the kimono off her shoulders where he kissed the exposed skin before biting down softly. She gasped, arching into him as she felt that same tingling sensation from the night before.

It was happening again and this time she did not have any second thoughts about it.

- - - - - - - - - -

The sweat on their bodies was slowly drying, breath uneven and rough between kisses, muffled moans on skin and mouths. Sasuke slowly lowered himself onto the ground; wrapping his arms around Sakura's petite body he pulled her close. He buried his face in her hair, smelling the unique scent that was her, a mixture of cherry blossoms and strawberries. He had always teased her about her fragrance when they were younger. She had an odd obsession with strawberries as he had with tomatoes and on many occasions he had caught her gulfing down a basket of strawberries.

"_You know," he smiled at her embarrassed self as she tried to hide the basket of strawberries behind her back, which was unsuccessful since he was wiping the juice off her lips with his thumb, "I never really thought about it, but at least I know the reason behind why your hair is so pink." _

Sasuke felt her shiver in his embrace and immediately started to rub her bare arms up and down for warmth. She in turn hummed at his thoughtfulness and leaned closer into his arms wanting nothing more than to feel his warmth surround her being. She pressed her face against his chest where she heard his heart beating rapidly.

Sighing in utter exhaustion she murmured against his skin, "It won't be the same…"

"Aa," he tightened his arms around her, "I know."

She shifted in his arms, sitting up she patted the ground around looking for her clothes. Sasuke merely watched her as he laid on the grass, his eyes trailed all over her bare body before finally stopping at her chest where he openly stared at her breasts. He felt cool fingers hook under his chin and jerk his head up where he found Sakura glaring at him. He coughed into his hand, a tint of red spreading over his cheeks, and muttered an apology; she just shook her head.

She turned around and pulled her hair up, "Help me tie my obi."

"Aa," he sat up and proceeded to tie the silky fabric in a simple bow. When he finished he kissed her gently on the cheek before letting his kisses trail further down her neck.

"Sasuke," she whimpered suddenly feeling that same tingling sensation again, "I'm hungry…"

"Mmm?"

He quickly put his clothes on as Sakura sat watching the sky, when he finished he stood up and offered her his hand, which she accepted gratefully. Their walk into town was quiet, neither knew what to say, Sasuke feeling awkward at starting conversations kept his mouth shut and Sakura feeling a little melancholy about the change of events decided to keep quiet. As they walked side by side they received many disbelieving stares and hushed whispers from the villagers. Sasuke not being much of a people person was able to ignore everyone, but Sakura tried her best to keep her emotions in check as she heard the silent whispers about her miscarriage. Sasuke noticing the sudden change in Sakura grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it before intertwining their fingers together. She looked up and smiled sweetly at him before looking back down to the road.

They were stopped by a screeching blond, "SAKURA! SASUKE-KUN!"

The figure ran towards them, jumped and latched herself onto Sakura who was taken back by surprise by the sudden contact, "You're home! I can't believe it! I missed you so much forehead-girl!"

Sakura awkwardly patted a sobbing Ino on the back, "I missed you too, Ino."

"Really?" the blond asked hopefully. Sakura shook her head in amusement and replied softly, "Really."

Ino smiled and hugged her again before swerving around and crushing Sasuke in a deathly hug, "Sasuke-kun! It's good to see your pretty face again."

"…Pretty face?" he glared daggers at her, which she seemed oblivious to.

Sakura giggled quietly behind her hand as Sasuke unlatched Ino from his body and wrapped a comforting arm around Sakura's waist. Sakura, still feeling a little uncomfortable with Sasuke's sudden display of affection, tried her best to hide her discomfort from Ino. The last thing she needed was Ino berating her about her innocence being taken granted by a man. Sakura smiled, remembering the day when she told Ino about the pregnancy and how she ended up being scolded for hours by a fuming blond, which oddly enough reminded Sakura of her mother. Ino had demanded who the father was, like a crazy, over protected sister, and Sakura would have succumbed into telling her the truth if it were not for Neji coming in and claiming the child as his.

"Come on, you two!" Ino looped her arms through Sasuke's strong arm and Sakura's thin arm, "We're having a picnic!"

"Huh?" Sakura watched as the blurry image of sunny blond and deep purple drag her down the streets along with a grumpy Sasuke.

"Yes a picnic," Ino grinned, "I bumped into Naruto yesterday and he suggested we have a get together today. He was with Kakashi-senpai, who by the way seemed a bit upset about something, which I think was probably because of the sudden disappearance of Mr. Hotpants here and you, my dear. Anyways, he told me you were back and I didn't believe him because," she stopped to think, "…Because I didn't want to get my hopes too high. The whole ordeal about you being missing and all was…well…depressing and I didn't want to think anymore of it."

Sakura nodded as Ino continued with her chatting, "Although you should have seen the look on Kakashi-senpai's face."

"Why?"

"He looked like a kicked puppy. He was so heartbroken when he found out from Naruto that you had walked out of the Hokage's office before he even had the chance to see you," she giggled.

"Oh," Sakura whispered.

Sasuke and Sakura were dragged until they reached the fields, where many flowers bloomed and swayed with the warm wind. Off into the distance Sasuke noticed Naruto and Kakashi speaking under a tree while most of their friends sat on a red-checkered cloth. When they arrived they all greeted Sakura with crushing hugs and loud popping kisses, which she had to refrain herself from jerking away from the close proximity. Kakashi lazily walked towards her, wrapped his arms around her small frame and held her close. The way his arms trembled around her was enough to let her know how much he missed her without any words spoken.

Kakashi broke the long hug when he heard an irritated cough beside him, "Kakashi," Sasuke greeted him with a fixed glare as he watched his former teacher's arms still wrapped around the smiling Sakura.

"Sasuke," he replied smiling behind his mask as he watched the young man give him the evil eye.

They all sat down and enjoyed their little meeting under the bright afternoon sky, eating, talking, and joking as if they were never separated so many years ago. And as the time quickly fled one by one began to excuse themselves from the picnic to go back to work. Ino was the last to leave along with her lazy boyfriend, who she dragged away happily from the scene.

"So, where were you two hiding this morning?" Naruto oh so causally asked behind his cup of sake while Kakashi nodded his head along.

Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly, "Nowhere."

"I see," commented the blond man as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, eyes squinting.

Kakashi watched from the corner of his eye as Sakura fumbled with her fourth cup of sake. He shook his head and went back to his beloved orange book. Sighing, he quickly flicked the book closed and neatly placed it back into his pouch as Sasuke and Naruto began quarreling about who knows what.

"You two are a pain," he told the young, angry men who stood glaring at each other, "In the ass…"

Not far away, in the forest, a shadow loomed dangerously with stealth watching the young pink haired woman through heavy lidded eyes. He flipped the flap of his coat over his shoulder exposing his well-built body clad in only fishnet and rested his hand on the hilt of his katana. He walked quietly towards her and her unsuspecting companions.

Sakura felt a shiver run down her spine for some unknown reason and Sasuke seeing this rubbed her back soothingly which left Naruto and Kakashi to stare in awe.

"What?" he asked partly in confusion and irritation.

Sakura reached behind her back and grabbed his hand, setting it on his lap and gently squeezed it before letting her hands wringed nervously inside the sleeves of her kimono.

"Sakura-chan, what's wrong?" Naruto asked worriedly. She shook her head and politely whispered for another cup of sake. Sasuke merely raised a brow, but said nothing. If she wanted to talk, she would talk.

A snap of a twig caused the men to whip their heads around towards the sound. Sakura gripped her cup tightly in her small, scarred hands, which trembled with uncontrollable fear.

The figure stepped out of his hiding and calmly spoke, "Sakura."

- - - - - - - - - -

**A/N:** One more chapter to go. Yep, it's almost done!

Today is my birthday, yay!


	9. End

**A/N:** Sooooo sorry for the long wait. I was out of the state and had no way to update the story. Really, really sorry. I hope nobody gets upset with the ending…mwuahahaha!

I just realized I made a mistake on the last chapter…hahaha. Whatever. Anyway, it's safe to say that there is major OCC. Blah!

Enjoy the last chapter!

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She dared not to move as the frightening aura enveloped her trembling form. She knew who it was by the way he said her name, so suave, so gentle and yet laced with deep anger. It scared her to think that he would come all the way to Konoha just for her. To take her back to the crumbling building, to the stuffy little room that would keep her hidden from the outside world.

What would he do this time to her for trying to escape his clutches? Would he simply lock her up like he did the first time, beating her small body and slapping her across the face until she begged and cried from the pain? Or would he simply drag her to the deepest woods, driving her face-first into the soft ground, bending her over to then rape her while others watched silently, thrusting in and out of her and rocking his hips as she screamed for him to stop?

For once she wished she were not Haruno Sakura, but a mere ordinary woman.

"Sakura," he sauntered towards her, his feet gliding smoothly against the ground. He stopped and frowned when both Sasuke and Naruto immediately jumped from the ground to stand before the already weeping Sakura. His crimson eyes fluttered from the twisted angry look on his little brother's face to Kakashi's form crouched beside Sakura.

"Sakura," he gently called to her. She cried harder, her head shaking side to side. The strong smell of sake soaked through her black and pink kimono, which she had accidentally dropped while shaking from fear.

Red eyes blazing with maddening anger, "What the fuck are you doing here Itachi!"

The corner of the older Uchiha's mouth quirked slightly in amusement, "What? I'm not allowed to visit my birth village and my little brother?" He asked in mock hurt with a hand resting lightly against his chest.

Sasuke scoffed, "What the fuck do you want?"

"Clearly you didn't hear me," he mocked as he took a step closer with a thoughtful expression on his face, "...and such vulgar language coming from the _last_ Uchiha heir. Mother and Father would certainly flip in their graves..."

Sasuke's eyes widened, hurt swirling in the pit in his stomach as he launched himself towards his brother, kunai clutched in his hand. The older Uchiha evaded the incoming attacks by mere quick and nimble steps back. The corner of his mouth twitched high as he eagerly grabbed his little brother by the elbow, pulled him towards his body and quickly connected his knee to Sasuke's stomach. He dropped down on the soft earth, coughing and clutching his abdomen in pain.

Sasuke glared up at his brother a single thought rushing through his mind. _What the hell! I'm one of Konoha's most elite shinobi and I still can't lay a fucking finger on him!_

Frowning, Itachi let his hand rest briefly on the hilt of his katana feeling a swell of disappointment for Sasuke's performance. He wasn't surprised at all, although he had hoped Sasuke would have at least been a challenge. He tightly grabbed the katana, swinging it out from the case, "It's been…how many years since our last encounter, little brother?" He glared at Sasuke, "Almost twelve years I believe…"

Sasuke flicked his pouch open, flinging a set of kunais at Itachi who easily dodged them. Naruto came up from behind with his katana poised deadly, swinging it across Itachi's form, cutting away his flesh in half. The body fell towards the ground in two pieces, rivers of blood following in its wake. Before the body of the older Uchiha could even touch the ground it puffed into leaves.

"Damn it!" Naruto swore under his breath as he stole a quick glance at Sakura and Kakashi. He had trouble concentrating on Itachi's location due to Sakura's hysterical crying, but there was nothing he could do to ease her fear. Kakashi was already at her side trying to calm her, even though he was quite unsuccessful at it.

Sasuke's yell shook him awake from his thoughts and Naruto quickly dashed to his side as he fought savagely against his brother.

"Almost twelve years to train and become stronger and look at you," he snorted at Sasuke's weak attacks, "you're still as pathetic as you were back then."

Itachi managed to land a hard blow on the distracted Sasuke, his hard fist connecting to his younger brother's jaw and then swayed to the side to catch Naruto off guard to slice him across the abdomen. Pools of blood trickled from Naruto's injury, trailing and staining as it fell to his feet, slowly soaking the ground with red. Enraged, Sasuke flew to his brother once more, his mind completely fogged with revenge.

"What's this?" Itachi mocked him causing his anger to grow, "…already upset and not a clue in the world as to why?"

Yelling, Sasuke threw a chakra filled punch to his brother, missing him by only a couple of centimeters, "Don't act innocent you asshole! You slaughtered my family!"

A dark chuckle erupted from Itachi, his whole frame shaking in amusement. Sasuke stared, not quite understanding and making of his odd behavior. His previous fights with his older brother always included a very calm and collected man not a mocking and eager psychopath. Granted Itachi had always been a psychopath, but for some reason Sasuke was getting an uneasy feeling from the bottom of his gut as they stood off.

He laughed, bending over, hands propped up on his knees. He shook his head to the side, back and forth, his hair swaying along with his head's movements. Bringing up a finger to wipe a tear of laughter from his eye, Itachi gave his younger brother a warm and eerie smile, "Is that why you are attacking me?"

Shocked and confused, Sasuke could only nod at his brother. Behind him he could still hear Sakura crying, but he tried his best to ignore her. She was a distraction and he knew having her around during this fight would only cause problems.

Her reaction to his brother's appearance had confused him a bit, she seemed so strong and independent just moments a go, but now she was just a broken little girl. But was more confusing, and he did not want to admit anything at the moment because he was already scared as it was, was Itachi calling for Sakura.

"Odd really. For a moment I thought you were attacking me because of Sakura," he smiled again.

"What?"

He felt it again, that same gut wrenching feeling he had every time he knew something bad was about to happen. He looked back at Sakura as she slapped Kakashi's hands away and as she cried harder as Naruto tried to get her to stand and flee the scene.

Itachi grinned darkly down at Sasuke, red eyes glittering in pure delight while Sakura's crying grew louder, "Did you know she has the most interesting looking birthmark on the inside of her thigh?"

Sasuke froze, his body becoming completely rigid at the realization. It clicked all together in his mind, from Sakura's cold behavior to her secretiveness about her whereabouts. He felt his heart shatter into millions of pieces just thinking about the possibilities that could have happened, the pain she probably went through, while being away from the safety of the village.

_Missing for a little more than a year after Orochimaru's defeat. _

_The scars._

_Her fear of sharingan._

Everything now made sense to Sasuke. She was taken away from Konoha, forcefully at that, and now his sick-minded brother was back to get her. He clenched his fists hard, his nails biting into the flesh on the inside of his hand. This wasn't about avenging his family anymore….

This was about protecting Sakura.

"Y-you bastard!" He roared, throwing himself on his brother who still stood chuckling. Catching him off guard, they both tumbled to the ground, Sasuke on top of his older brother. He punched him hard on the face, satisfied with the little trail of blood that trickled down his chin, but the dark victorious smile he openly wore was replaced by a frown when he felt a piercing sensation. Eyes widening, Sasuke stared at his brother in disbelief as a kunai was rammed deeper into his chest. Pools of Sasuke's blood wept from the wound trailing on Itachi's grasp on the kunai, down his hand and arm.

"What was that, little brother? You seemed so confident just moments ago. What happened?" He pushed the kunai deeper into his flesh causing him to gag, "Are you upset about Sakura? You shouldn't be, I've been taking good care of her."

He smirked, drops of Sasuke's blood falling on his face. Roughly, Itachi pushed him off making him trip over his own two feet by the sheer force causing him to land a few feet away. Sasuke stared at the kunai lodged in his chest, a numbing sensation creeping over him. The yells from Naruto and Kakashi were left to deaf ears as he carefully touched the weapon. He flinched at the pain that shot through his body as he gently pulled the kunai out, blood gushing out of his wound quickly soaking his shirt.

In the background he could hear Naruto's war cry and the clash of weapons, but he slowly realized he couldn't hear Sakura anymore. Worried, he looked around for her and noticed she was gone. Cursing under his breath he swore pain upon Kakashi as he saw him helping Naruto with Itachi instead of protecting Sakura.

Naruto was slammed back into a tree trunk by a powerful kick, he clutched at his now slowly closing wound as it sizzled with chakra. Kakashi meanwhile swiftly moved against Itachi, trying his best to find an opening in which to attack the criminal. A little slow at his reaction and Kakashi found himself trapped in Itachi's world. Nervous, he looked around in the bloodstained world looking for an escape.

Sasuke looked on as Kakashi screamed in agony, clutching his head tightly before passing out and dropping on the ground. He shakily stood up, coughing a handful of blood, and charged at Itachi. He dodged the kunai that his brother held in his grasp, swerving to the right swiftly he made a quick hand seal. He was on the last sign when he stopped abruptly.

Itachi stood calmly, an air of confidence and arrogance surrounding him. He flicked his wrist to the side and Sasuke watched numbly as the kunai flew out of Itachi's grasp to pierce into Sakura's tender flesh. She screamed, falling onto the ground whimpering at the pain that raked from her back. He stood frozen, fear gripping him taking over complete control, as he watched Itachi make his way towards the struggling Sakura.

He nudged her with his foot, seeming satisfied with the whimpers of pain and chocked sobs she made, and then harshly kicked her on the side snapping a rib in the process. Choking on her own tears she made no sound as Itachi pulled her up by the hair to roughly pull out the kunai embedded between her shoulder blades. Meanwhile, Sasuke watched horrified as Itachi kept that dark smile tugging on his lips as he whispered into Sakura's ear.

"My, my. I thought I had made myself clear a long time a go, Sakura dear," he taunted in her ear, "If I can't have you, no one will…"

Yelling in rage, she slammed a hand on his chest sending an electrifying wave of chakra into his body causing him to drop his hold on her. Regaining his composure he slapped her across the face sending her to the ground once more. Putting his foot on her head he drove her face deep onto the ground, smiling darkly as she clawed at his leg.

Sasuke stole a quick glance at Naruto who nodded to him. He tore his gaze away from the blond and his fallen former teacher and quickly charged towards his brother, hand poised for attack. Itachi watched amused as Sasuke made hand signs, his foot still on Sakura's head.

The crackling of pure energy tore at his hand and he felt his flesh begin to burn by the chakra that formed in his hand. Distantly he felt Naruto do the same as the blond gathered the rasengan in his hand while making extra copies of himself to surround Itachi.

Itachi, composed as ever, stood proudly with the still struggling Sakura under his foot. Sasuke screamed before launching himself to his brother, his hand outstretched as the chidori screeched violently with electricity. In a split second Itachi had kicked Sakura off the ground and up into his arms and used her as a shield when Sasuke's chidori came into contact.

Sasuke watched in horror as her eyes widened in fear, his hand going through her body, her blood soaking him completely in red. He didn't notice anything in that instant, not even when his chidori managed to injure his brother nor even when Naruto managed to strike the older Uchiha deadly with his rasengan, except for her frightened pale green eyes and opened mouth coughing up blood.

Kakashi staggered towards the blond to aid him in finally defeating the monster. Sasuke flicked his eyes back as Itachi smiled at him in triumph, a dark smile edged on his lips wearily. He mouthed some words along the lines of _'pathetic little brother'_ to Sasuke, who immediately recoiled in anger and fear. He tore his eyes away from the dead Itachi to stare at Sakura. She went limp in his arms and he lowered her onto the ground carefully. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. Struggling to breath, she tried to speak but her words were clogged by blood.

Choking on a sob, Sasuke nervously looked at her as he grasped her cold hand tightly, "S-sakura…I…I'm so so-sorry…"

She smiled a sad little smile up to him and his chest tightened horribly, "Sakura, stay awake for me please. S-stay awake!" He begged, "Stay awake, don't sleep."

He noticed her weary eyes begin to droop, sleep claiming her slowly, "Stay wake, damn it!" He couldn't loose her just yet she meant everything to him. Without her his life was a joke.

Realization hit him hard, his mind already accepting the fact that she was dying and was going to die in his arms yet his heart kept arguing for hope, for her and for his love. Confused and utterly exhausted he smiled that same little sad smile she had given him earlier and gently stroked her hair, running his fingers through her blood soaked pink tresses.

"I never gave you my answer," he murmured softly with tears cascading down his angered flushed cheeks, "…about my wish."

He bent down until their foreheads touched, Sakura tightly engulfed within his arms, "…I would wish for you…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

After coming home covered in blood with a limp Sakura in his arms followed by Kakashi and Naruto who carried the older Uchiha's body was he finally able to feel some sense of peace. That same day, a little bit past midnight, he escaped from the hospital to roam the streets. He found Hyuuga Neji sitting on a concrete bench; idly he wondered if it was the same bench he left Sakura on when they were twelve. He approached him quietly while Neji gazed at him calmly.

He spoke, his voice deep and strangely sad, "She was pregnant with your child." He paused as he took in Sasuke's shocked expression, "I was going to marry her, but she broke off the engagement when she miscarried."

Nodding, Sasuke tore his gaze away from Neji to stare at the shimmering sky. A star twinkled brightly before it trickled along the dark heavens.

_A shooting star._ He mused.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

The year had gone by rather quickly for Uchiha Sasuke. Nothing out of the ordinary except for the occasional and sometimes unexpected visits from his worried friends, namely Naruto and Kakashi, which sometimes led to awkward predicaments. They had both offered their help, and he had a feeling they wanted to free load off of him since the opening of the Uchiha district, but he had shooed them away wanting nothing more than to live his life in peace and quiet.

He stared at the grave before him. It seemed almost insignificant compared the other graves. He bent down; carefully dropping a bouquet of wild flowers with his left hand while his right calloused hand touched the smooth surface of the small gravestone. He had nothing better to do tonight, except for sleeping but that was impossible at the moment, and he had wanted to avoid going to the party, which was being held in his home. Frustrated, he sighed, bringing his hand to his face rubbing his eyes tiredly. Stealing a quick look at the grave he made his mind up to go back home and greet his guests.

Upon entering the Uchiha district he quickly took notice of the bright lights of his home that illuminated half the street. He shook his head, hoping the neighbors would not complain to him in the morning because of the party. Lost in his thoughts he failed to notice he was already standing in front of the house.

Luckily for him a happy and eager blond woman greeted him loudly by the door, snapping him out of his thoughts, "Sasuke-kun! Where were you? I was worried sick!" She huffed and pouted prettily at him while the bundle in her arms squirmed slightly.

"Sorry about that," He smiled apologetically to Ino.

She beamed up at him rocking the baby back and forth lightly in her embrace trying to calm the soon to be wailing babe. "You hear that sweetheart," she coed at the baby, "You father knows how to apologize."

Sasuke chuckled, his hands reaching out for the baby as Ino turned around and avoided him playfully. The baby began to wail and Ino immediately sang to him softly, kissing him gently on the forehead several times. Sasuke watched, content and pride swelling in his heart as he heard his baby son calm down.

Ino deposited the squirming bundle into his arms, "I have to go to the flower shop. I left the diaper bag over there and you," she pointed at him, "pretty face, forgot to buy more diapers. You're low on disposable diapers…you know what that means, right?"

He sighed, "Yeah. I'll have to use the cloth diapers instead…"

"Yep! And there is no way in hell I am going to wash them after little Jr. does his business," she smiled cheekily as she yelled from a distance away from the house. Sasuke merely waved back oddly enough feeling a little better with her scolding.

He weaved through the crowded hallway, passing by a drunken Naruto who kept signing a sappy romance song into one of his son's toys to a bright red Hinata. He walked into his kitchen, finding a horrible mess of dirty dishes, empty liquor bottles scattered around and birthday presents all labeled for him. He sighed again when the bundle in his arms squirmed restlessly and pushed aside the sliding door to step out into the cool air.

"It's beautiful out tonight."

"Aa, it is." He smiled, quietly making his way to the shadowed figure that sat on the wooden porch floor alone. Sitting down he handed the bundle over, "He's hungry."

"Isn't he always." She remarked heartily as she slowly opened her yukata, slipping it off one shoulder. He watched as she exposed the endless scars adorning her body, and he narrowed his eyes at a particular irregular scar that covered most of her shoulder.

"You shouldn't feel guilty," she replied softly bringing him back from the disturbing thoughts that rushed through his mind. Sasuke watched, amused, as the baby immediately attached himself to her offered breast greedily causing him to chuckle.

"What?"

He shook his head, waving a hand at her a knowing smirk edged on his lips, "Like father like son, don't you think?"

Blushing bright red she slapped him hard on his chest, "Sa-sasuke-kun, you pervert!"

Grabbing her hand, he gently tugged on it causing her to snuggle into his expecting arms as the baby complained. She moved around until she was comfortable against his body and then gently pried the baby away from her breast to burp him. He nuzzled her pale hair with his nose, smelling the odd mixture of strawberry and cherry blossom fragrance that only belonged to her.

"Sasuke-kun?" He hummed, "Can you…can you describe our son to me?"

Blinking his eyes open he gazed at his petite wife, "Aa, I can."

She smiled shyly up at him moving strands of pink hair that tickled her cheek away from her face. Leaning against his chest she listened to Sasuke's deep voice as it slowly claimed her to sleep.

She dreamt of a little dark haired boy with bright emerald eyes.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

**A/N: **There's must be a ton of mistakes on this just to let you know so don't yell at me. I will check it out later and correct them, but for now, oh well I am too damn tired to reread it again and I know all of you have been dying to read the last chapter. Hope you liked it.

I'm not really happy with the fight scene, it's kinda crappy. I was in fact going to kill Sakura in the end, but I just couldn't do it.

Made you think that Ino was the mom in the beginning, no? hahahaha!

**AnimEvivvErz – **I lurv you! I made Sakura live because of you. She was needed to make beautiful Uchiha babes, lol.


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